NASA picture of the day released March 25, 2017 from European Space Agency.
The image showing Hubble space telescope spots two colliding galaxies defying cosmic convention.
Colliding galaxies or interacting galaxies are galaxies whose gravitational fields result in a disturbance of one another. An example of a minor interaction is a satellite galaxy’s disturbing the primary galaxy’s spiral arms. An example of a major interaction is a galactic collision, which may lead to a galaxy merger, according to Astronomers.
There are galaxies which are harder to classify than other galaxies. Hubble’s trusty Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) has captured a striking view of two interacting galaxies located some 60 million light-years away in the constellation of Leo.
The Hubble space telescope has observed, the more diffuse and patchy blue glow covering the right side of the frame is known as NGC 3447 — sometimes NGC 3447B for clarity, as the name NGC 3447 can apply to the overall duo. The smaller clump to the upper left is known as NGC 3447A. You might interested with NASA Eclipse 2017.
Overall, NGC 3447 comprises a couple of interacting galaxies, but we’re unsure what each looked like before they began to tear one another apart. The two sit so close that they are strongly influenced and distorted by the gravitational forces between them. The interaction causing the galaxies to twist themselves into the unusual and unique shapes seen here.
NGC 3447A appears to display the remnants of a central bar structure and some disrupted spiral arms, both properties characteristic of certain spiral galaxies. Some identify NGC 3447B as a former spiral galaxy, while others categorize it as being an irregular galaxy.
Gravitational interactions may lead to merging
Colliding galaxies are common during galaxy evolution. The extremely tenuous distribution of matter in galaxies means these are not collisions in the traditional sense of the word, but rather gravitational interactions.
Galaxies are held together by mutual gravity and orbit around a common center. Interactions between galaxies is quite common, especially between giant and satellite galaxies. This is often the result of a galaxies drifting too close to one another, to the point where the gravity of the satellite galaxy will attract one of the giant galaxy’s primary spiral arms.
NASA picture of the day collision of galaxies may lead to merging if two galaxies collide and do not have enough momentum to continue traveling after the collision. In that case, they fall back into each other and eventually merge into one galaxy after many passes through each other. If one of the colliding galaxies is much larger than the other, it will remain largely intact after the merger.
Do stars collide when galaxies merge?
According to Astronomers, galaxy collision often trigger bursts of star formation. Although stars don’t collide when two galaxies merge, the much larger gas clouds do. The clouds in the two galaxies slam into each other violently. Shock waves from the collision run through the clouds and trigger the collapse of dark nebulae to form stars.
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. The only telescope designed to be serviced in space by astronauts. Although not the first space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy.
The HST was built by the United States space agency NASA, with contributions from the European Space Agency. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) selects Hubble’s targets and processes the resulting data, while the Goddard Space Flight Center controls the spacecraft. NASA picture of the day Image credit: ESA/Hubble; NASA