Merging Galaxies Captured With Hubble
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured the image of two merging galaxies.
The image was taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 that is on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, which depicted the galaxy NGC 6052, located about 230 million light-years away in the constellation of Hercules.
This may seem like an unusual galaxy, and it was categorized as such initially, according to a news release. The merging of the galaxies equals to the formation process of a "new" galaxy. The two separate galaxies have gradually drawn together, where they were attracted by gravity and they have now collided. They are now seen merging together in one single structure.
As the merging process continues, many individual stars in are thrown out their original orbits and placed onto new paths, some of them very distant from the collision region itself. The stars produce the light that is seen, subsequently the "galaxy" now seems to have a chaotic shape. Gradually, the new galaxy will settle down into a steady shape, which may would not resemble either of the two original galaxies.
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