The Hubble Space Telescope delivered yet another stunning image, this time showing the merging of two galaxies into a larger, more chaotic-looking one.
The European Space Agency detailed the galaxy, dubbed NGC 6052, in a news release NASA posted to its website.
"It would be reasonable to think of this as a single abnormal galaxy, and it was originally classified as such," the ESA said in the release. "However, it is in fact a 'new' galaxy in the process of forming. Two separate galaxies have been gradually drawn together, attracted by gravity, and have collided. We now see them merging into a single structure.
"As the merging process continues, individual stars are thrown out of their original orbits and placed onto entirely new paths, some very distant from the region of the collision itself. Since the stars produce the light we see, the "galaxy" now appears to have a highly chaotic shape. Eventually, this new galaxy will settle down into a stable shape, which may not resemble either of the two original galaxies."
Space.com pointed out that the merging of two galaxies is not uncommon and astronomers do not have to look too far to find one. For example, the Milky Way Galaxy housing our solar system is headed toward its close neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy.
