A group of three galaxies are the subject of this image. The Advanced Camera for and Wide Field Camera 3 were used to image them. There are two galaxies in the upper right of the picture. The long trails of stars and gas extending from them give the impression that they have just been struck at great speed, thrown into disarray by the bowling-ball shaped galaxy to the lower left of the image.
Over a long time period, interactions between galaxies happen, and they rarely collide. It is not clear if the other two are interacting with the galaxy to the lower left or not. The shape of the two on the upper right is similar to the starship from Star Trek!
A fascinating example of how awkward astronomy can be is the name of the constellation Phoenix, which lies about 425 million light-years from Earth. The three galaxies are referred to individually. It makes sense when we consider that many astronomical catalogs were compiled over 100 years ago, long before modern technology made standardizing scientific terminology much easier. Many objects have different names, or may have names that are similar to other objects that cause confusion.
Citation: Hubble spots a starship-shaped galactic pair (2022, January 29) retrieved 29 January 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-01-hubble-starship-shaped-galactic-pair.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
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