This week's image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows two galaxies that are close enough to have a single name: Arp- Madore 608-333. The pulling of each of their fields is affecting the other. Their shapes are being distorted by the power ofgravity.
The Hubble scientists said in a note accompanying the image release that the two are subtly warping one another through a mutual interaction. The interaction was captured by Hubble's Advanced Camera.
This week, Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope captured images of a pair of interacting galaxies. They are not interacting, even though they appear to be close. It looks like the two are in the same place, but one is in front of the other. The Hubble Telescope imaged a pair of overlaps earlier this year.
Things can get messy when they are close to each other. Huge pockets of star formation can be created whengalaxies collide. The Angel Wing system is an example of how these interactions can create stunning and unusual shapes. The Hickson Compact Group 31 was imaged by Hubble and contains four other galaxies that are merging into one.
Two colliding galaxies don't always form a bigger one. Scientists believe that the super massive black hole at the center of almost all galaxies determines whether a collision will result in a merger or the destruction of the other.
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