“Hubble” monitors a “dangerous dance” that turns the fate of two galaxies “upside down”
The Hubble Telescope of the US space agency, NASA and the European Space Agency, monitored this unique phenomenon in two excitingly interacting galaxies that bear the common nickname “Arp 91”.
According to the scientific magazine “sciencealert”, the two galaxies are performing a very delicate dance 100 million light-years away from the planet Earth, which will change their fate.
Astronomers called the two galaxies “Arp 91” because of this unique phenomenon, although they have their own names. The lower galaxy, which appears in the new image as a bright spot, is known as “NGC 5953”. The elliptical galaxy in the upper right is labeled “NGC 5954”.
These two galaxies are considered spiral galaxies, but their shapes appear significantly different due to their different orientations relative to the Earth.
A spiral arm extends down from one of the two streams. The gravitational pull of the two galaxies causes a massive interaction that scientists have dubbed the “dangerous dance.”
https://youtu.be/w0Y3TvF9OAw
Most astronomers nowadays believe that these collisions between spiral galaxies lead to the formation of another type of galaxy, known as elliptical galaxies.
Our latest Picture of the Week showcases a dangerous dance: two interacting galaxies that are so intertwined, they have a collective name — Arp 91.
Credit: @ESA / @Hubble_Space / @NASA , J. Dalcanton
Acknowledgement: J. Schmidt pic.twitter.com/RA0KIXt776— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) October 4, 2021
These huge collisions occur in very large time periods of hundreds of millions of years, so scientists do not expect a change in the shape of this dance during our short life as humans.
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