The Galaxy Clusters Behind the 'Treble Clef'
Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory found that a radio structure nicknamed the 'Treble Clef' sits in two merging galaxy clusters, NASA said Oct. 14.
Written on Oct. 16, 2026 from the source documents listed below, after the dates it covers.
Written with AI and checked against primary sources. Our standards
The story
Astronomers have worked out what produces a strange radio structure nicknamed the Treble Clef for its resemblance to the musical symbol, NASA said on Oct. 14. The object had been hard to explain because it lies almost directly behind the plane of the Milky Way, where our galaxy's stars, gas and dust block much of the view.
Using telescopes that can see through that material, including NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the German eROSITA X-ray telescope, a team led by Andrea Botteon of Italy's National Institute for Astrophysics found diffuse, hot gas at the Treble Clef's location. That showed the object sits in a galaxy cluster, and in fact in two clusters that are merging.
NASA said the paper was published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
NASA said the paper was published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. The team concluded the Treble Clef likely formed in two stages.
First, an outburst from a supermassive black hole at the cluster's center drove clouds of charged particles and magnetic fields away at close to the speed of light, producing radio waves that later faded. Then the collision between the clusters compressed or re-energized the cloud, and it brightened in radio waves again.
To find signs of the collision, the researchers removed the cluster's smooth, oval-shaped X-ray glow and found brighter emission to the left and right of center. They think the clusters collided along that direction a few hundred million years ago and are now moving apart.
The cluster is about 1.55 billion light-years from Earth.
Sources
The primary documents behind this story, with direct links to each one.
- NASA's Chandra Breaks Down 'Treble Clef's' Galaxy Cluster Collision
- VLSS J0318.9+5755: Chandra Photo Album, Oct. 14, 2026
Image and footage credits: Lead image: X-ray: NASA/CXC/INAF-IRA/A. Botteon et al.; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk · Chandra image use policy (no copyright asserted for Chandra content; use per NASA guidelines) · X-ray: NASA/CXC/INAF-IRA/A. Botteon et al.; Infrared: UKIDSS-GPS; Radio: ASTRON/LOFAR; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk · Includes third-party data (UKIDSS-GPS, ASTRON/LOFAR) that may be copyrighted; linked, not rehosted
No corrections recorded. See the corrections log.
Source media
Images and footage from the primary sources behind this story, with credits and licenses.
- Composite X-ray, radio and infrared image of the Treble Clef ↗ Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/INAF-IRA/A. Botteon et al.; Infrared: UKIDSS-GPS; Radio: ASTRON/LOFAR; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk · Includes third-party data (UKIDSS-GPS, ASTRON/LOFAR) that may be copyrighted; linked, not rehosted
Batteries Built for the Lunar Night
NASA researchers are developing solid-state batteries that could survive the extreme cold of the Moon's South Pole, the agency said Oct. 14.
