By ESA/Hubble
February 12, 2023
These three galaxies are set on a collision course and will ultimately merge into a single bigger galaxy, distorting one anothers spiral structure through mutual gravitational interaction in the process. An unassociated foreground galaxy appears to float serenely along with the crash, and the smudged shapes of much more distant galaxies are visible in the background.
These galactic behemoths are called Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) and– as the name recommends– are specified as the brightest galaxies in any given galaxy cluster.
The Hubble Space Telescope recorded a trio of combining galaxies in the Boötes constellation. (This is a cropped image.
An incredible trio of combining galaxies in the constellation Boötes takes spotlight in this sensational image from the Hubble Space Telescope. These 3 galaxies are set on a clash and will eventually combine into a single larger galaxy, distorting one anothers spiral structure through shared gravitational interaction in the process. An unrelated foreground galaxy appears to float serenely alongside the collision, and the smudged shapes of far more remote galaxies show up in the background.
The Hubble Space Telescope caught this image that includes combining galaxies in the Boötes constellation. Credit: ESA/Hubble & & NASA, M. Sun
This clashing trio– known to astronomers as SDSSCGB 10189– is a relatively unusual combination of three big star-forming galaxies lying within just 50,000 light-years of one another. While that might seem like a safe range, for galaxies this makes them exceptionally close next-door neighbors! Our own stellar neighbors are much further away; Andromeda, the nearby big galaxy to the Milky Way, is more than 2.5 million light-years away from Earth.
This observation was designed to assist astronomers comprehend the origin of the largest, most huge galaxies in deep space. These galactic leviathans are called Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) and– as the name suggests– are defined as the brightest galaxies in any given galaxy cluster. Astronomers think that BCGs form through the merger of large, gas-rich galaxies like the ones in this image. They turned to Hubbles Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) to investigate this galactic trio in painstaking information, wanting to shed light on the formation of deep spaces most massive galaxies.