NASA shares stunning image of interacting galaxies captured by Hubble

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stellar image of two interacting galaxies about 200 million light-years from Earth. The pair is located in the constellation Pegasus, which is named after a winged horse from Greek mythology. The image shared by NASA on its Instagram page shows a large spiral galaxy (NGC 7469), and its smaller companion (IC 5283). NGC 7469 hosts an active, massive black hole and a bright ring of star clusters.

Together, these galaxies are called Arp 298. The “Arp” in the pair’s name indicates that they are listed in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies compiled by astronomer Halton Arp. The atlas is a gallery of strange and wonderful galaxies with peculiar structures. NASA stated that Arp 298 has a supermassive one in one of the two interacting galaxies black holeand a bright ring of star clusters, a region of intense star formation.

Scientists study such galaxies to understand how galaxies with supermassive black holes at their centers can form stars. NASA says that if these interacting galaxies start colliding, they will approach each other and make a delicate “dance”. The gas in these galaxies will begin to lose angular momentum and funnel towards the center, triggering additional star formation at an accelerated rate.

NASA said Give that image of the Arp 298. was captured using seven different filters of Hubble’s Equipment – Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveying.

The agency said the system would be one of first galaxies to be seen by Hubble’s successor, James Webb Space Telescopewhich is currently running mirror alignment process in the space. James Webb is likely to begin science operations later this year.