Hubble detects amazing collision of two galaxies 465mln light-years away

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The Hubble Space Telescope successfully captured a subtle “bridge” of gas linking two colliding galaxies located 465 million light-years away from Earth. The captured image displays the Arp 107 system, encompassing a pair of galaxies in the midst of merging. This galactic pair is accompanied by a faint stream of dust and gas, reports Al-Rai daily.

The Hubble, a collaborative mission involving NASA and the European Space Agency, imaged Arp 107 afresh utilizing the Advanced Camera for Surveys.

The larger galaxy, seen on the left side of the image, exhibits a substantial spiral arm with vivid gas and dust surrounding its nucleus. This celestial entity is recognized as the Seyfert Galaxy, housing an active galactic nucleus.

“Seyfert galaxies are notable because, despite the immense brightness of the active nucleus, we can observe radiation from the entire galaxy,” mentioned ESA officials in a statement. “This is clearly depicted in this image, showcasing the spiral arms of the entire galaxy quite distinctly.”

The active galactic nucleus emits a potent glow linked to the inflow of material into the supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s core. Indeed, the radiation emitted by an active galactic nucleus can surpass the combined light of all the stars within its host galaxy.

The luminous spiral arm of the galaxy brims with nascent stars, their births fueled by the copious material drawn from the smaller companion galaxy, visible to the right in the image.

The smaller galaxy presents a radiant core but relatively dim spiral arms as it integrates into the larger galaxy.

The material bridge connecting the merging galaxies delicately hangs below the duo in the new Hubble image, publicly released by the European Space Agency on September 18.

These images were captured as part of a program designed to extensively study objects within a catalog of 338 entities, known as the Atlas of Strange Galaxy. The primary objective is to offer the public captivating images of these extraordinary and enigmatic galaxies.