Fossil galaxy group

Fossil galaxy groups, fossil groups, or fossil clusters are believed to be the end-result of galaxy merging within a normal galaxy group, leaving behind the X-ray halo. Galaxies within a group interact and merge. The physical process behind this galaxy-galaxy merger is dynamical friction. The time-scales for dynamical friction on luminous (or L*) galaxies suggest that fossil groups are old, undisturbed systems that have seen little infall of L* galaxies since their initial collapse. Fossil groups are thus an important laboratory for studying the formation and evolution of galaxies and the intragroup medium in an isolated system.

The closest fossil group to the Milky Way is NGC 6482, an elliptical galaxy at a distance of approximately 180 million light-years located in the constellation of Hercules.[1]

References

  1. ↑ An old galaxy group: Chandra X-ray observations of the nearby fossil group NGC 6482

External links

See also