Strange glowing 'bow-and-arrow' structure may be a giant cosmic shock wave created by a supersonic galaxy c...

View comments Samantha Mathewson Sat, June 27, 2026 at 10:00 AM UTC 3 min read View comments Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Key takeaways Powered by Yahoo Scout. Yahoo is using AI to generate key points from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. A citizen scientist discovered a bizarre radio galaxy named RAD-BAARG with a unique "bow-and-arrow" structure that spans nearly 1.8 million light-years across. The object was identified through the RAD@home Astronomy Collaboratory, allowing volunteers to review telescope data and flag unusual features, and researchers believe its structure may be a giant bow shock generated by the galaxy falling into a cluster environment. RAD-BAARG's extreme asymmetry and lopsided appearance, unlike typical radio galaxies, may offer valuable insights into how galaxy clusters influence radio galaxies, with the findings published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. See more When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.