Credit: ESA/Hubble & & NASA, J. Dalcanton, Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/ DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/ NSF/AURA, Acknowledgment: L. ShatzArp 122, a strange galaxy formation consisting of 2 merging galaxies, NGC 6040 and LEDA 59642, situated about 570 million light-years from Earth.This Hubble Picture of the Week includes Arp 122, a peculiar galaxy that in truth consists of 2 galaxies– NGC 6040, the slanted, distorted spiral galaxy, and LEDA 59642, the round, face-on spiral– that are in the middle of an accident. Peeking in at the corner is the elliptical galaxy NGC 6041, a main member of the galaxy cluster that Arp 122 resides in, but otherwise not taking part in this beast merger.Galactic collisions and mergers are monumentally energetic and dramatic occasions, however they take location on an extremely slow timescale. In time, this completely changes the structure of the two (or more) clashing galaxies, and sometimes ultimately results in a single, merged galaxy.
