Hubble telescope spots two ‘squabbling’ galaxies locked in a cosmic dance that will eventually see the smaller one ‘engulfed by its neighbour or tossed out into intergalactic space’

Hubble Telescope discover two cosmic dancing galaxies

NASA has shared a dramatic picture of two peculiar galaxies locked in a cosmic dance. The occasion was going down at a distance of about 220 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus and was captured by the area company’s highly effective Hubble Space Telescope. The picture reveals the diminutive galaxy virtually connected to its a lot bigger neighbour by a strand of light-emitting threads. NASA stated the gravitational pull between the 2 galaxies will ultimately end result in the smaller galaxy both being tossed out into area or it is going to be consumed by the bigger one.

220 miles light year far from earth

This observation from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope showcases Arp 86, a peculiar pair of interacting galaxies which lies roughly 220 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus. Arp 86 is composed of the two galaxies NGC 7752 and NGC 7753 – NGC 7753 is the large spiral galaxy dominating this image, and NGC 7752 is its smaller companion. The diminutive companion galaxy almost appears attached to NGC 7753, and it is this peculiarity that has earned the designation “Arp 86” – signifying that the galaxy pair appears in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies compiled by the astronomer Halton Arp in 1966. The gravitational dance between the two galaxies will eventually result in NGC 7752 being tossed out into intergalactic space or entirely engulfed by its much larger neighbor.

Hubble observed Arp 86 as part of a larger effort to understand the connections between young stars and the clouds of cold gas in which they form. Hubble gazed into star clusters and clouds of gas and dust in a variety of environments dotted throughout nearby galaxies. Combined with measurements from ALMA, a gigantic radio telescope perched high in the Chilean Andes, these Hubble observations provide a treasure trove of data for astronomers working to understand how stars are born.

These observations also helped sow the seeds of future research using the NASA/ESA James Webb Space Telescope. Due to launch later this year, Webb will study star formation in dusty regions like those in the galaxies of Arp 86.