Image: Hubble observes galaxies' evolution in slow motion

It is known today that merging galaxies play a large role in the evolution of galaxies and the formation of elliptical galaxies in particular. However there are only a few merging systems close enough to be observed in depth. ...

Where do stars form in merging galaxies?

Collisions between galaxies, and even less dramatic gravitational encounters between them, are recognized as triggering star formation. Observations of luminous galaxies, powered by starbursts, are consistent with this conclusion. ...

Hubble eyes galaxy as it gets a cosmic hair ruffling

(Phys.org) —From objects as small as Newton's apple to those as large as a galaxy, no physical body is free from the stern bonds of gravity, as evidenced in this stunning picture captured by the Wide Field Camera 3 and ...

Are ultra-luminous galaxies colliding?

(Phys.org) —ltra-luminous infrared galaxies ((ULIRGs) are galaxies whose luminosity exceeds that of a trillion suns, By way of comparison, our Milky Way galaxy has a typical modest luminosity of only about ten billion suns. ...

Clumped galaxies give General Relativity its toughest test yet

(Phys.org) —Nearly 100 years since Albert Einstein developed general relativity, the theory has passed its toughest test yet in explaining the properties of observable Universe. The most precise measurements to date of ...

Inseparable galactic twins

(Phys.org) —Looking towards the constellation of Triangulum (The Triangle), in the northern sky, lies the galaxy pair MRK 1034. The two very similar galaxies, named PGC 9074 and PGC 9071, are close enough to one another ...

Hubble spots galaxies in close encounter

(Phys.org) —The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced this vivid image of a pair of interacting galaxies known as Arp 142. When two galaxies stray too close to each other they begin to interact, causing spectacular ...

Hubble spots a very bright contortionist

(Phys.org) —The contorted object captured by Hubble in this picture is IRAS 22491-1808, also known as the South America Galaxy. It is an ultra-luminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) that emits a huge amount of light at infrared ...

Hubble tells a tale of galactic collisions

(Phys.org) —When we look into the distant cosmos, the great majority of the objects we see are galaxies: immense gatherings of stars, planets, gas, dust, and dark matter, showing up in all kind of shapes. This Hubble picture ...

Galaxy collisions

Collisions between galaxies are common. Indeed, most galaxies have probably been involved in one or more encounters during their lifetimes. One example is our own Milky Way, which is bound by gravity to the Andromeda galaxy, ...

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