NASA Releases Image of Collision Between Galaxies

Answer fast: what is a galaxy? That's where our planet is, right? Ours is the Milky Way, which is also home to other planets, moons, sun, cosmic dust and all the unimaginable immensity of which we are a part. The point is, there is not just one galaxy. There are several, with their planets and systems, wandering around in what we know as the Universe, which is the condominium where all the galaxies live.

Just as here, in the smallness of your city (compared to the Universe), from time to time there is a collision between two vehicles, for example causing some damage, galaxies also meet and logically cannot occupy the same. space.

Imagine what a collision between two such immense structures would look like. It is very difficult to form this kind of image unless you have something of Douglas Adams or George Lucas. Fortunately, it is 2013, and the technology available now gives us access to this kind of event.

Heavenly bird

NASA recently released the image of the exact moment when two galaxies met, forming this bright and catastrophic scenario, as one might imagine - after all, they are exploding stars.

Thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, we can see what the space agency itself described as a "profile of a celestial bird." This beautiful formation is named - not so beautiful - Arp 142, and the two galaxies involved are NGC 2936 (located below left) and NGC 2937.

This somewhat deformed shape, seen in the image, was due to the interaction between the stars of the two galaxies, which became "messy" due to gravitational maritime influences. Not to mention the gases and dust of NGC 2936 that compressed during the meeting, which triggered the formation of new stars.

In the image, for you to understand better, the stars forming are these bluish nodes. Already the red color indicates the presence of old stars turning into gas and dust. So, what did you think of this picture?