Spiral galaxy about to eat its dwarf galaxy neighbor

A current picture from the Darkish Vitality Digital camera reveals an act of galactic cannibalism, with a spiral galaxy just like our Milky Approach about to devour a close-by dwarf galaxy that has wandered into its path.

The dramatic interplay is happening between a big spiral galaxy often known as Haley’s Coronet and a smaller dwarf galaxy referred to as NGC 1531. The dwarf galaxy is within the technique of merging with the bigger galaxy, which is being pulled into an irregular form by the gravitational forces.

“This lopsided cosmic tug-of-war is a snapshot of how massive galaxies develop and evolve by devouring smaller galaxies, absorbing their stars and star-forming materials,” NOIRLab explains. “The same course of has occurred within the Milky Approach, probably six occasions up to now, leaving huge streams of stars and different indicators within the halo of the Milky Approach.”

The 2 galaxies proven within the picture will finally merge into one, because the small dwarf galaxy is absorbed by the bigger one. However earlier than that occurs, you may see how the bigger galaxy’s spiral arms are being distorted by gravity, with one spiral arm tangled up towards the highest of the picture.

Methods to predict what will happen when two galaxies meet is a fancy challenge thought to narrate to the galaxies’ supermassive black holes, however we do know that the end result will depend on the scale of the galaxies concerned. In circumstances like this, one massive galaxy can simply take in a smaller dwarf galaxy. Nevertheless, when two equally sized galaxies collide, they might merge to create an unusual structure, or the assembly might lead to one of many galaxies being annihilated.

As dramatic as the method of galaxy merging is, nonetheless, it isn’t solely harmful. Mergers additionally typically set off waves of star formation, with materials like mud and fuel forming bridges between the 2 galaxies and offering the premise for the delivery of recent stars.

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