[ad_1]
When galaxies collide, they appear distorted and strange.
This week, astronomers working at NASA and the European Space Agency’s legendary Hubble Space Telescope released six images of glowing galactic fusions. You can see them below.
“It is during rare fusion events that galaxies undergo dramatic changes in their appearance and stellar content,” the Hubble Program wrote in a statement. “These systems are excellent laboratories for tracking the formation of star clusters under extreme physical conditions.”
The six collisions presented here are part of the Hubble Imaging Probe of Extreme Environments and Clusters, or HiPEEC, investigation to better understand the creation of stars in these wild cosmic locations.
Remarkably dense star clusters form amidst these molten galaxies, and they are extremely bright, leaving telltale evidence of ancient cosmic collisions.
“Even after the collision, when the resulting galactic system begins to merge into a calmer phase, these very massive star clusters will shine throughout their host galaxy, as enduring witnesses to past fusion events,” said writes the Hubble astronomers.
The merged galaxy NGC 3256 is located approximately 100 million light years from Earth.
Image: ESA / NASA / HUBBLE
The NGC 1614 galaxy system with a variety of spiral arms and a straight tail at the top right.
Image: NASA / ESA / THE HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM (STSCI / AURA) -ESA / HUBBLE COLLABORATION) AND A. EVANS (UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, CHARLOTTESVILLE / NRAO / STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY)
The “Medusa fusion”, the result of a larger galaxy consuming a smaller galaxy (aka NGC 4194).
Image: ESA / Hubble / NASA / A. Adamo
According to NASA and ESA, galaxies IC 694 and NGC 3690 passed close by around 700 million years ago, resulting in “a violent burst of star formation.”
Image: NASA / ESA / THE HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM (STSCI / AURA) -ESA / HUBBLE COLLABORATION) AND A. EVANS (UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, CHARLOTTESVILLE / NRAO / STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY)
Located about 230 million light years away, NGC 6052 is a pair of colliding galaxies, says NASA.
Image: ESA / Hubble / NASA / A. Adamo et al.
Galaxy NGC 34, the result of the collision of two galaxies a few million years ago.
Image: ESA / Hubble / NASA, / A. Adamo et al.
[ad_2]
Source link