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Even among ‘giant’ galaxies this one is record-setting

Newly discovered object is at least 5 megaparsecs, or 16 million light years, across — making it the biggest known structure produced by a single galaxy.
The largest known structure made by a single galaxy is an enormous "radio galaxy", Alcyoneus, with bright light on a dark field.

The gigantic galaxy Alcyoneus includes two radio lobes (orange), regions of radio-wave emission that extend well beyond the galaxy’s visible structure. Credit: Oei, M. S. S. L., et al. Astron. & Astrophys.

The detection of the largest giant radio galaxy yet discovered could help astronomers to explain how these colossal objects form1.

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Nature 604, 404 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00980-0

References

  1. Oei, M. S. S. L. et al. Astron. Astrophys. 660, A2 (2022).

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