Skip to main content

Hubble captures epic view of three galaxies merging into one

This week’s image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows no less than three galaxies that are in the process of merging to become one, called IC 2431. Located 681 million light-years away in the constellation of Cancer, this object shows what can happen when galaxies collide and merge into each other.

The enormous gravitational forces of such a merger pull the galaxies into elongated shapes, though the process isn’t entirely destructive — there is also plentiful star formation happening in parts of the merger, with new stars being born amid the chaos. Some of the most active areas may be right in the middle of the merger, though this can’t be seen in the image as a thick cloud of dust obscures the center.

A mass of dust and bright swirls of stars in this image are the distant galaxy merger IC 243.
The mass of dust and bright swirls of stars in this image are the distant galaxy merger IC 2431, which lies 681 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Cancer. The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured what appears to be a triple galaxy merger in progress, as well as a tumultuous mixture of star formation and tidal distortions caused by the gravitational interactions of this galactic trio. A thick cloud of dust obscures the center of this image – though light from a background galaxy is piercing its outer extremities. ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Keel, Dark Energy Survey, Department of Energy, Fermilab, Dark Energy Survey Camera, (DECam), Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, NoirLab/National Science Foundation/AURA, Sloan Digital Sky Survey; Acknowledgment: J. Schmidt

A notable fact about this object is that it was investigated using one of the earliest and biggest citizen science projects in astronomy. The Galaxy Zoo project, beginning in 2007, is now on its 15th version and has brought together members of the public to help identify and classify galaxies, mergers, and supernovas.

Recommended Videos

“The original Galaxy Zoo project was the largest galaxy census ever carried out and relied on crowdsourcing time from more than 100,000 volunteers to classify 900,000 unexamined galaxies,” Hubble scientists write. “The project achieved what would have been years of work for a professional astronomer in only 175 days and has led to a steady stream of similar astronomical citizen science projects. Later Galaxy Zoo projects have included the largest ever studies of galaxy mergers and tidal dwarf galaxies, as well as the discovery of entirely new types of compact star-forming galaxies.”

Georgina Torbet
Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…
Creepy cosmic eyes stare out from space in Webb and Hubble image
The gruesome palette of these galaxies is owed to a mix of mid-infrared light from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, and visible and ultraviolet light from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The pair grazed one another millions of years ago. The smaller spiral on the left, catalogued as IC 2163, passed behind NGC 2207, the larger spiral galaxy at right. Both have increased star formation rates. Combined, they are estimated to form the equivalent of two dozen new stars that are the size of the Sun annually. Our Milky Way galaxy forms the equivalent of two or three new Sun-like stars per year. Both galaxies have hosted seven known supernovae, each of which may have cleared space in their arms, rearranging gas and dust that later cooled, and allowed many new stars to form. (Find these areas by looking for the bluest regions).

These sinister eyes gazing out from the depths of space star in a new Halloween-themed image, using data from both the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope. It shows a pair of galaxies, IC 2163 on the left and NGC 2207 on the right, which are creeping closer together and interacting to form a creepy-looking face.

The two galaxies aren't colliding directly into one another, as one is passing in front of the other, but they have passed close enough to light scrape by each other and leave indications. If you look closely at the galaxy on the left, you can see how its spiral arms have been pulled out into an elongated shape, likely because of its close pass to the gravity of the other nearby galaxy. The lines of bright red around the "eyes" are created by shock fronts, with material from each galaxy slamming together.

Read more
Hubble captures image of a spectacular ‘stellar volcano’
Evolution of R Aquarii

A gorgeous image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a nearby star called R Aquarii that is the site of dramatic activity: violent eruptions of matter that is thrown out into the space around it. Informally dubbed as a "stellar volcano" for the way it is throwing out matter like lava spewing from deep underground, the star makes for a stunning image, but it also holds an unexpected surprise. The star is not one single object, but two.

Known as a symbiotic variable star, it consists of a red giant and a white dwarf that orbit each other in an ongoing dance. The red giant pulses, with its temperature and brightness changing over a 390-day period. This intersects with the 44-year orbital period of the white dwarf. When the white dwarf starts to close in on the red giant, it sucks off some of its gas via gravity and builds up the disk around it until this collapses and explodes, throwing off jets of material. Then the cycle begins again.

Read more
View of Hurricane Milton captured from space by ISS astronaut
Hurricane Milton is pictured as a Category 5 storm in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Yucatan Peninsula from the space station on Oct. 8, 2024.

As Hurricane Milton approaches Florida and threatens to bring extreme weather and damage to the region, it is being tracked from space including by those on the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA has joined other federal agencies in urging residents in the area to evacuate. "FEMA is urging anyone in Milton’s path to evacuate immediately," NASA is warning. "Do not wait. Milton is currently a Category 4 storm tracking toward central Florida and is anticipated to make landfall Wednesday night."

Read more