Overview

• ICRAR researchers report a neutral-hydrogen bridge linking NGC 4532 and DDO 137 about 53 million light-years from Earth.
• The bridge connects to a previously identified gas tail stretching roughly 1.6 million light-years, the longest of its kind observed.
• The result comes from WALLABY pilot-survey data taken with CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope on Wajarri Yamaji Country.
• The team’s analysis indicates gas was pulled and heated through galaxy interactions and cluster infall, redistributing star-formation fuel.
• The interacting pair offers a local analogue to the Milky Way–Magellanic system, with findings published in MNRAS (DOI: 10.1093/mnras/staf1443).