(click for larger image)
"The compact galaxy group, 230 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus, is one of the favorite targets for astronomers studying gravitational interactions on a grand scale. It was discovered in 1877 by French astronomer Edouard Stephan.
"For many astronomers, the most interesting feature is something that doesn't show up quite as well in visible-light pictures: the light blue arc of X-ray emissions running through the center of the image above.
"That X-ray arc, detected by NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory, shows up prominently in other wavelengths as well - such as the infrared part of the spectrum that is the NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope specialty. Scientists have concluded that it represents a shock wave that is slamming through the group's intergalactic gas and heating it up so much that it emits radiation in a wide range of wavelengths. The shock wave is generated by the passage of one galaxy (NGC 7318b) through the cluster's core at a speed of almost 2 million miles per hour."
The rest of the excellent write-up, with many links:
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/07/13/1995171.aspx
Since you're interested in science, perhaps you would like to take a look at an alternative explanation for many of the things astronomers look at and, being baffled, require them to tweak their theories once again. "Gravitational interactions on a large scale" being one of those myths. That alternative is the electrical universe, in whose explanation plasma plays a central role. For starters, try: www.holoscience.com/synopsis.php
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