The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope took a picture of what the astronomers believe it is the result of a collision of two galaxies that took place a very long time ago.
One big circular object formed from the two galaxies
Similar to our own galaxy, the Milky Way, the two galaxies captured on an image by the Hubble telescope whirled one into the other for several millions of years, according to astronomers’ beliefs.
Usually, in this kind of galactic “amalgamation”, galaxies normally widen and rupture while they still keep revolving a center of gravity they share. Over time, the chaos produced by the collision diminishes and the galaxies will become one single object.
The Hubble has, in fact, captured in an image that very object that forms after millions of years after a collision of two galaxies. This object was codenamed “SDSS J162702.56+432833.9” and is an elliptical galaxy.
Hubble has frequently observed collisions of two galaxies
Hubble telescope is the most important asset NASA has put on the Earth’s orbit. Over time, Hubble was able to send back home astonishing pictures of distant “worlds”, from galaxies of billions of light-years away to exoplanets and so on.
But when it comes to collisions of two galaxies, Hubble has a special category for those. The images of galaxies collisions are spectacular and appreciated by both the professional astronomers from all over the world and the people passionate about astronomy and cosmic events.
In 2008, for example, Hubble photographed a collision between galaxies that was so tough that one of the galaxies was simply detached from its original nucleus, while the other dispersed in the space.
However, until recently, no picture taken by Hubble showed the circular object that forms when the collision of two galaxies settles down. The picture of such an object can be admired right at on the top of this article.