[ad_1]
Discovered for the first time in 1784 by William Herschel, NGC 6052 was originally thought to be a singular galaxy with just a strange form.
However, scientists eventually discovered that the "strange-shaped galaxy" at 230 million light-years was actually two galaxies falling apart.
After having already been observed by the Hubble telescope with an older camera in 2015, NASA has recently released a stunning picture of galaxies with even more detail.
The two galaxies that form NGC 6052 are now so close that the boundaries are no longer clear and the original galaxies are losing their shape at an accelerated rate.
Read more: Astronomers have discovered hundreds of thousands of new galaxies in a very small part of the universe
"This new galaxy will eventually stabilize, which may not look like either of the two original galaxies," the European Space Agency said. A complete merger would throw the stars out of their original orbits and take up new places.
According to NASA, in addition to the fascinating and fascinating union of the two galaxies, it is also very rare for galaxies to be mainly composed of empty space.
In about four billion years, the Milky Way and Andromeda must collide and unite to form a single galaxy. For now, however, scientists are continuing their research on NGC 6052.
[ad_2]
Source link