Two galaxies merge

A recent picture of the NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained an image that appears to be a very bright and strange galaxy, but is in fact the result of a pair of spiral galaxies, similar to Milky Way galaxy, crashing into each other at great speed. The product of this strange collision, called NGC 2623, or Arp 243, lies 250 million light-years away towards the constellation Cancer.

As predicted by scientists, galaxies involved in this collision have a huge impact on each other. Research shows that the galaxies approach each other, a huge amount of gas from this galaxy is pulled to the center of the other galaxy, until finally, the two galaxies merge into a giant galaxy . The object in the image, NGC 2623, is in the final stage of the process of merging with the centers of the original galaxy pair into a core. However, protruding from this central region are two young star bands that show that the consolidation process takes place. In such a collision, mass and gas exchange stimulates star formation.

The striking star strip below contains bright star clusters - 100 of which have been discovered in observations.The large star clusters that the team observed in this fused galaxy are brighter than the brightest clusters near us. These star clusters may have formed as part of an extended stretch of material linked to the northern band, or they may have formed from debris falling back to the galactic nucleus. In addition to this star-forming region, both galactic arms are nurturing very young stars in the first phase of the evolutionary journey.

As predicted by scientists, galaxies involved in this collision have a huge impact on each other.Research shows that the galaxies approach each other, a huge amount of gas from this galaxy is pulled to the center of the other galaxy, until finally, the two galaxies merge into a giant galaxy .The object in the image, NGC 2623, is in the final stage of the process of merging with the centers of the original galaxy pair into a core.However, protruding from this central area are two young star bands that show that the consolidation process takes place.In such a collision, mass and gas exchange stimulates star formation (Photo: NASA, ESA and A. Evans (Stony Brook University, New York, National Radio Observatory, Charlottesville) , USA).

Some fusion (including NGC 2623) can lead to a strong active center of the galaxy, with a supermassive black hole found at the center of the two bounded original galaxies. The material is pulled towards the black hole to create an accretion disk. Energy is released by crazy motions that heat the disc, causing light to be emitted on a wide area of ​​electromagnetic spectrum.

NGC 2623 is very bright in infrared, is included in the ultra-bright infrared galaxies group (LIRG) and has been extensively studied as part of the LIRG Sky-wide Project (GOALS) combining data from several glasses The most advanced space telescope, including Hubble. Additional data from X-ray and infrared telescopes can describe more objects such as galaxy centers and star-forming regions by revealing what cannot be observed at visible wavelengths. .

The GOALS project includes NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope data, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, and NASA's Galaxy Evolution Detector (GALEX). . The joint efforts of these advanced observation facilities have provided a clearer picture of the Universe around us.

The data used here was implemented in 2007 by Hubble Survey Camera. Observations are directed by astronomer Aaron S. Evans. A team of more than 30 astronomers, including Evans, recently published an important paper, giving details of the first results of the GOALS project.