A new image taken by Hubble shows a head-on collision between two galaxies, spawning a rare star-breeding frenzy.
The collision of two galaxies spawned a star-conceiving frenzy| NASA, ESA, STScI, Julianne Dalcanton (Center for Computational Astrophysics /Flatiron Inst. and University of Washington)
The two interacting star systems are called Arp 143, and the shiny and distorted spiral galaxy that is forming stars is NGC 2445, and the less shiny one is NGC 2444.
Astronomers believe the two galaxies pierced each other, igniting the uniquely shaped star-forming frenzy in NGC 2445, in which thousands of stars are being born. This is because this galaxy is rich in gas, which is the raw material for forming stars. However, it has not escaped the gravitational clutches of NGC 2444.
The two galaxies are engaged in a cosmic tug-of-war, and NGC 2444 appears to be winning the war. It pumped gas out of NGC 2445, forming a weird triangle of newly born stars.
This star-forming frenzy in NGC 2445 swept across the galaxy from the outside in. Astronomers estimate that stars in the filaments of gas that were dragged out like toffee between the two galaxies were born about 50 million to 100 million years ago. As NGC 2445 continues to slowly move away from NGC 2444, these newborn stars are left behind.
The newly born stars near the center of NGC 2445 are about 1 million to 2 million years old, and Hubble can even distinguish some of these individual stars, which are the brightest and largest stars in the galaxy. Most of the bright blue clumps in the figure are stellar aggregates, while the pink clumps are young clusters that are still surrounded by dust and gas.
Although most of the above star-forming activity occurs in NGC 2445, this does not mean that the other galaxy is unscathed. The gravitational force of the wrestling force stretched NGC 2444 into a strange shape. The galaxy is made up of old stars, and no new stars are born, because the gas in this galaxy is lost long before the two galaxies meet.
The two galaxies are located in the constellation of Lynx, about 190 million light-years from Earth.
Author: Steed
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