This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features a stunning
trio of merging galaxies in the constellation Boötes. These three galaxies
are on a collision track and will ultimately merge into a single, bigger
galaxy, causing gravitational interactions between them to alter one
another's spiral structures.
The blurred forms of many more distant galaxies can be seen in the
distance, and a seemingly unconnected foreground galaxy appears to float
serenely close to this tableau.
Astronomers refer to this trio of galaxies colliding as SDSSCGB 10189. It
is a somewhat uncommon configuration of three massive star-forming galaxies
that are barely 50,000 light-years apart from one another. Although while it
would seem like a safe distance, for galaxies, that puts them in close
proximity.
The closest big galaxy to the Milky Way, Andromeda, is more than 2.5
million light-years distant from Earth. Our own galaxy's companions are far
farther away.
This photo was taken during an observation that was intended to provide
light on the universe's most enormous and gigantic galaxies' origins. These
enormous galaxies are referred as as Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs), and
as their name implies, they are the brightest galaxies in any particular
galaxy cluster. Scientists think that massive, gas-rich galaxies like the
ones seen here combine to produce BCGs.
In an effort to offer information on the birth of the universe's most
massive galaxies, they used Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera
for Surveys to painstakingly study this galactic triple.
Provided by NASA
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