NASA’s Hubble telescope once again proves to be very diligent, even though the much more advanced James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is also up there and shooting photos of the deep Cosmos.
Hubble’s Picture of the Week reveals two spiral galaxies that overlap one another: SDSS J115331 and LEDA 2073461. You know what they say that looks are deceiving, and it’s also available here. The two galaxies are not colliding, even though you may be tempted to claim the opposite while looking at the picture. Hubble’s Twitter account explains:
This Hubble Picture of the Week shows two overlapping spiral galaxies ????: SDSS J115331 and LEDA 2073461. Their appearance gives the impression of a dramatic collision. But don’t be fooled! These two galaxies are not actually interacting – their alignment is just by chance.
1/ This Hubble Picture of the Week shows two overlapping spiral galaxies 🌀: SDSS J115331 and LEDA 2073461. Their appearance gives the impression of a dramatic collision. But don’t be fooled! These two galaxies are not actually interacting – their alignment is just by chance. pic.twitter.com/zQyYOIkSU5
— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) September 5, 2022
The two spiral galaxies are located over a billion light-years away from Earth, which means that whatever lies on the planets that may exist there, we’ll likely never find out.
Just about two weeks ago, we also shared the news about the same Hubble taking a picture at the beautiful NGC 6540 globular cluster that’s teeming with stars.
Have a happy #HubbleFriday! ✨
This sparkling image shows NGC 6540, a globular cluster – a tightly bound swarm of stars that can hold tens of thousands to millions of stars, packed together by their mutual gravitational attraction.
Find out more: https://t.co/oJvbWqfuQM pic.twitter.com/I4xLbzx4Ql
— Hubble (@NASAHubble) August 19, 2022
A statement from ESA (European Space Agency) says, as space.com quotes:
The brightest stars in this image are adorned with prominent cross-shaped patterns of light known as diffraction spikes,
These astronomical embellishments are a type of imaging artifact, meaning that they are caused by the structure of Hubble rather than the stars themselves. The path taken by the starlight as it enters the telescope is slightly disturbed by its internal structure, causing bright objects to be surrounded by spikes of light.
NASA’s Hubble telescope was named after the American astronomer Edwin Hubble, one who made huge discoveries back in the 1920s. Hubble was the astronomer who proved that the Universe is constantly expanding.
