Hubble catches rare crash of three brilliant galaxies
Three giant galaxies verge on crashing, smearing their gas and dust in a violent wreck, in a new image from the Hubble Space Telescope.
A collision of three galaxies is relatively rare in space, according to the European Space Agency, so such a scenario presents an opportunity for astronomers to study how the most massive galaxies in the universe form.
This trio, found off in the cosmic distance in the Bootes constellation, is known as SDSSCGB 10189. It will eventually combine into one spectacular galactic neighborhood, after distorting each other's spiral shapes. The merging of galaxies creates turbulence and tides that can trigger new bursts of star formation within their interstellar gas clouds, according to NASA.
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Mergers like this one offer a sort of teaser campaign for the future collision of our own Milky Way and its colossal galactic neighbor, Andromeda. NASA estimates that day will come in about 4 billion years.
But calling it a "day" is a misnomer: Galaxy mergers happen over an unfathomable timescale for humans, on the order of several hundred million years.
In Hubble's new image, these three large, star-forming galaxies lie within only 50,000 light-years of one another, a distance about 50 times closer than the Milky Way is to Andromeda. In astronomical terms, the trio is a tight-knit bunch.
"While that might sound like a safe distance, for galaxies this makes them extremely close neighbours," the European space agency said about the image. "Our own galactic neighbours are much further away; Andromeda, the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way, is more than 2.5 million light-years away from Earth."
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"While that might sound like a safe distance, for galaxies this makes them extremely close neighbours."
Previous Hubble research has shown that these crashes were more common in the past when the universe was smaller. Regardless, galaxy collisions continue to occur because these cosmic objects are thought to be bound by the gravity of so-called dark matter — invisible space material suspected to exist throughout the universe — surrounding them.
Hubble astronomers can already spy how the three galaxies are impacting each other's structures. Their competing gravitational forces are playing a game of tug-of-war, pulling streams of gas and dust between them. Bridges of gas between the bright objects are a telltale sign that they're going to combine.
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"These galactic behemoths are called Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) and — as the name suggests — are defined as the brightest galaxies in any given galaxy cluster," ESA said.
To the left of this triple galaxy merger is a dimmer spiral galaxy. Scientists say it's far enough away that the crash won't impact it.
Topics NASA
Elisha Sauers writes about space for Mashable, taking deep dives into NASA's moon and Mars missions, chatting up astronauts and history-making discoverers, and jetting above the clouds. Through 17 years of reporting, she's covered a variety of topics, including health, business, and government, with a penchant for public records requests. She previously worked for The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia, and The Capital in Annapolis, Maryland. Her work has earned numerous state awards, including the Virginia Press Association's top honor, Best in Show, and national recognition for narrative storytelling. For each year she has covered space, Sauers has won National Headliner Awards, including first place for her Sex in Space series. Send space tips and story ideas to [email protected] or text 443-684-2489. Follow her on X at @elishasauers.
