14 DAY TRIAL // Space might seem like a calm and peaceful place when we look at it through our bedroom's window, but the truth is that there is a whole lot of commotion happening in the universe.
For instance, astronomers working at Europe's XMM-Newton X-ray space telescope say that, not long ago, they had the chance to study a slightly hyperactive galaxy while it was working its way through the entrails of a cluster.
This cosmic encounter occurred at a distance of about 1.4 billion light-years from our planet. As detailed by Phys Org, the galaxy cluster that the speeding army of stars ripped through is known as Abell 4067.
Based on data obtained by the XMM-Newton X-ray space telescope, astronomers estimate that the galaxy that smashed through Abell 4067 was traveling at about 814 miles per second (roughly 1,310 kilometers per second).
Furthermore, they say that its mass was the equivalent of about 200 trillion planets just like our Earth. Interestingly enough, it looks like this speeding galaxy somehow survived its close encounter with Abel 4067.
Still, as detailed in the image below, this so-called bullet galaxy left behind a fairly impressive trail of gas. Following this incident, the gas became part of the galaxy cluster and might one day birth new stars.
