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Oct 01
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astronomy
• cbc.ca
Hubble sees galaxies blowing in the wind
Last Updated: Wednesday, September 30, 2009
From the page: "Newly released images from the Hubble Space Telescope show two galaxies that are moving so fast that gas within the galaxies is being stripped away.
[...]
Because the space within the cluster isn't empty, but filled with a very thin mixture of gases called the intracluster medium, the galaxy's movement is creating drag, in the same way that a rider on a speeding motorcycle will feel wind, even on a calm day.
The drag, or ram pressure, is stripping gases out of the galaxy, leaving a ghostly shadow behind. The Hubble images show new stars forming in bright blue clusters in the cloud of gas being left behind the galaxy."