Hubble captures a galactic trio on a collision course

20 Feb. () –

A spectacular trio of merging galaxies in the constellation Bootes takes center stage in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image.

These three galaxies are on a collision course and will eventually merge into a single larger galaxy, distorting the spiral structure through mutual gravitational interaction in the process. An unrelated galaxy in the foreground appears to float serenely near this scene, and the hazy shapes of much more distant galaxies are visible in the background, NASA explains. it’s a statement.

This colliding trio – known to astronomers as SDSSCGB 10189 – is a relatively rare combination of three large star-forming galaxies located just 50,000 light-years apart. Although this may seem like a safe distance, for galaxies this makes them extremely close neighbors. Andromeda, the closest galaxy to the Milky Way, It is located more than 2.5 million light years from Earth.

This image comes from an observation designed to help astronomers understand the origin of the largest and most massive galaxies in the universe. These galactic colossi are called the Brightest Cluster Galaxies. (BCG) and, as the name suggests, are defined as the brightest galaxies in a given galaxy cluster. Astronomers suspect that BCGs are formed by the merger of large gas-rich galaxies like the ones seen here.

To investigate this galactic trio in detail, turned to the Large Field Camera 3 and Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveyshoping to shed light on the formation of the most massive galaxies in the universe.