The Hubble Space Telescope has just released some spectacular new cosmic eye candy . This furious image read NGC 6052 , a pair of collide galaxies 230 million light - years away .
William Herschel firstdiscovered the objectin 1784 and think it was a undivided galaxy . More recent observations have demonstrated that ’s not the case ; alternatively , it consists of two beetleweed coalesce under the influence of gravity . Last imaged in 2015 , this newest observation pose a clear picture of the object using Hubble ’s Wide Field Camera 3 instrument . Now , each individual galaxy is clear seeable ; it seem as if the helix of one galaxy seen head on is being absorbed by the other , viewed from the side . But one day they ’ll coalesce so much they ’ll be indistinguishable .
The image itself might depend chaotic , but away from the spectacle in the sky , anyone living in the galaxies themselves belike would n’t present any danger : stars in extragalactic nebula are so far apart that it ’s unconvincing for any one to jar with another in a uniting . It is possible , however , for some stars at the wandflower ’ outer regions to be ejected . astronomical collisions could also reshuffle the stars , moving them further from or closer to the nub of the novel galaxy .
Galactic collisions are a common effect in the lifetime of galaxy . scientist have hypothesized that our neighboring Andromeda galaxy experiencedmergers of its ownin its past , for example .
Perhaps the newest view of NGC 6052 will give you some hope for the future . Our own whitish Way is destined to collide with the Andromeda galaxy , grant toastronomers ’ simulations . That hit wo n’t occur for four billion years or so , but it would also be an unbelievable spectacle . regrettably , at that full stop , the Sun will in all likelihood be too bright for Earth to support life-time .
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