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The illustrious Hubble Space Telescope captured for the first time two galaxies that passed. Known as UGC 2369, the duo presented is intended to merge one day and become a single galaxy. But for the moment, the two galaxies are just getting to know each other.
In the picture below, we can see the couple swirling one over the other, their mutual attraction (read: gravity) bringing them closer to each other. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), all that currently links the two galaxies is a "tenuous bridge of gas, dust and stars", almost as if they were holding hands.
This is UGC 2369, seen by NASA / ESA @HUBBLE_space. In fact, they are two interacting galaxies that are approximated by their gravitational attraction, in a similar process that will see our galaxy, the Milky Way, colliding with the Andromeda galaxy. See https://t.co/ZzsB04tVNr pic.twitter.com/bDAtydgWSl
– ESA (@esa) August 5, 2019
Galaxies are extroverted to the heart – most belong to groups or galactic clusters. In such proximity, interaction between two or more members is not uncommon. Even when a collision is somehow avoided, the intense gravitational force can still deform a galaxy.
In many ways, this is what makes galactic interactions so amazing to observe. For example, overflights of galaxies – where no contact is established – can create permanent channels, bars and tails that move away from the center of the galaxy, transforming it into unusual shapes and inducing new splinters. of star formation.
Mergers, on the other hand, are much more destructive, and this is especially true when the galaxies are about the same size. These larger events are less common than minor mergers, but he thought our own galaxy had one to come.
At present, the Milky Way we live in is shredding and absorbing two nearby dwarf galaxies, called Sagittarius and Canis Major. One day however, it is our galaxy that could become the meal.
Astronomers are confident that the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies will collide in billions of years, becoming "Milkomeda" if you will. The exact timing of this and how it will unfold is debated.
Although the merger of UGC 2369 seems fresh, this galactic duet is currently considered to be at a relatively advanced stage. To train Hubble's eye on such interactions could therefore give us insight into the fate of our own galaxy.
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