This image is a stunning photo of two galaxies merging.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — The Hubble Telescope released an image entitled ‘angel wings’. This image is actually a stunning photo of two galaxies merging that resembles an angel with outstretched wings.
American Space Agency (NASA) and European Space Agency (ESA) researchers explain that these galaxies collide in the VV 689 system. Unlike galaxies that appear to overlap from Earth’s perspective, scientists believe the two are in the midst of a galactic collision.
The two galaxies have formed an almost perfectly symmetrical pattern, giving viewers a view that resembles two large wings in space on Earth.
The Galaxy Zoo Hubble citizen science project provides the latest photos. Hundreds of thousands of people classify galaxies for projects crowdsourcingwhich assists astronomers in sifting through the vast amounts of data pouring in from space telescopes.
Why do these galaxies collide with each other?
The answer is simple, namely gravity. The gravitational attraction of these massive star clusters pulls them closer to each other until they are in orbits that are closer to each other. Eventually they merged to form a larger galaxy.
Surprisingly, scientists believe that only a small number of stars and other celestial bodies collide during this process. However, when these massive objects collide, a massive gravitational shock wave will be created.
Astronomers suspect that the Milky Way galaxy may have been involved in a galactic collision during its formation. Scientists can uncover new clues about the evolution of our galaxy by understanding more about what happens when galaxies collide, such as those in the VV 689 system.
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