Beijing time:2022-05-03 02:24
[NTD, Beijing, May 03, 2022]NASA has photographed two galaxies colliding and merging, just like huge wings in the universe, so they are called “Angel Wings” ).
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured images of two merging galaxies in the VV-689 system, nicknamed “Angel Wings,” according to NASA’s website.
Unlike the accidental alignment of galaxies that only appear to overlap when viewed from our vantage point on Earth, the two galaxies in VV-689 are in the midst of a collision. Intergalactic interactions make VV-689 almost perfectly symmetrical, giving the impression of a giant galaxy’s wings.
This image is from Zoo Gems. “Zoo Gems” are interesting galaxies captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in a citizen science project called Galaxy Zoo.
The crowdsourced project relies on hundreds of thousands of volunteers to classify galaxies and help astronomers examine the vast amount of data captured by robotic telescopes.
In the process, volunteers have discovered many strange and wonderful types of galaxies, some of which have never been studied before.
Another similar project, called Radio Galaxy Zoo, uses the same crowdsourcing approach to find supermassive black holes in distant galaxies.
In addition to Angel Wings, NASA recently shared two other colliding galaxies captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. The two interacting galaxies are collectively known as Arp 143.
Arp 143 includes the sparkling, twisted spiral galaxy NGC 2445 (right) and the fainter galaxy NGC 2444 (left).
Astronomers say the two galaxies crossed each other, causing thousands of stars to be born in NGC 2445. This galaxy has so many star births because it is rich in gas, the fuel that stars need when they are born.
However, NGC 2445 failed to escape the gravitational influence of NGC 2444. The two galaxies are in a tug-of-war, and it looks like NGC 2444 will win. It sucked gas from NGC 2445, forming triangles filled with newly born stars.
(Transfer from The Epoch Times/Editor-in-charge: Ye Ping)
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