Hubble Catches Unusual Galaxy Merger
The Hubble Space Telescope, led by the European Space Agency and NASA, imaged the unusual galaxy merger. Shared by breathtaking visual space agencies.
The Hubble Space Telescope, led by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, imaged the unusual galaxy merger.
Known as Arp-Madore 417-391, the merger consists of two galaxies.
About 671 million light-years away, Arp-Madore 417-391 is located in the constellation Eridanos. The two galaxies appear bent, reminiscent of a ring, due to gravity. The nuclei of galaxies are also standing side by side.
Arp-Madore 417-391 is one of many fascinating objects in the Southern Catalog of Extraordinary Galaxies and Their Relationships.
However, the image was captured with Hubble’s Advanced Scanning Camera (ACS).
Stating that ACS was developed to search for galaxies in the universe, NASA said, “The camera has been contributing to scientific discoveries for 20 years. During its use, it has been involved in everything from mapping the distribution of dark matter to studying evolution of galaxy clusters.”
Led by ESA and NASA, Hubble has spent 32 years discovering new galaxies and recording stunning moments of stars, planets and other celestial bodies.
According to NASA, the telescope has so far made 1.5 million observations of about 50,000 celestial bodies.
Launched by the space shuttle Discovery in 1990, the telescope is named after astronomer Edwin Hubble.
Hubble is currently used as a rover for the James Webb Space Telescope.
