Galaxies are often seen as island of stars in the Brobdingnagian empty universe , but during their long lifetime , they do in fact interact and immix . And these fundamental interaction are primal to understanding how galaxies evolve .
An extremely okay instance of such a galaxy merger isNGC 5256 , an interact arrangement located 350 million scant - years from Earth . The unification , also known as Markarian 266 , is between two disk galaxy ( not unlike the Milky Way ) and in an modern body politic . Most of the original flesh of the extragalactic nebula are go , with the two galactic cores now just 13,000 light - years aside .
Hubble has pretty much caught these two galaxies in the most het up minute of the hit , which is also the most interesting sentence to study these objects . NGC 5256 is undergoing wizard formation due to the intense gravitative forces that slosh and compress the gas into brand new stars .
The gas moving around has also been prey the supermassive black holes at the essence of each of the two galaxy . These are now classified as active astronomical nuclei . The gaseous state , which collect around the dark hole ’s accretion disk under uttermost gravitation , is emit powerful X - rays that were previously detected byChandra , NASA ’s X - ray observatory .
Although it is advanced , the merging process is far from over , and it will go on for quite some clock time . Over millions of years , the two cores will remain to orbit each other until their eventual hit . In the meantime , the gas and star around them will have settled down in a more stable arrangement . NGC 5256 will then be an ovate galaxy .
The image is also a fantastic authentication of how much Hubble has improved over the last decade . The first image of NGC 5256 by the distance scope was accept in 2008 with another 58 meeting galaxies to celebrate Hubble’s18th natal day . Just a year subsequently , Hubble received an significant upgrade with the installing of the broad - bailiwick Camera 3 , which importantly expanded the capabilities of the telescope . It can now see further into infrared wavelength , hence the highlighted visual aspect of the tendrils of gas thrown around by the galaxy .
Hubble ’s successor , theJames Webb Space Telescope , will be even advantageously equipped to look at the accelerator pedal of galaxies . Its keener optic will also be able to snap detailed images of mergers even further away .
