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Nasa reveals stunning image of strange space TRIANGLE made by tsunami of star births
NASA has revealed a stunning image of an unusual ‘space triangle’ it was able to capture with the Hubble Space Telescope.
The triangle shape was formed by two huge galaxies colliding.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterNasa has revealed this stunning image of what it’s calling a ‘space triangle’[/caption]
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterThe pink blobs you see on the image are young giant star clusters still covered in dust and gas[/caption]
Galaxies colliding like this can lead to a tsumani of star births.
Nasa explained: “A spectacular head-on collision between two galaxies fueled the unusual triangular-shaped star-birthing frenzy, as captured in a new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
“The interacting galaxy duo is collectively called Arp 143.
“The pair contains the glittery, distorted, star-forming spiral galaxy NGC 2445 at right, along with its less flashy companion, NGC 2444 at left.”
Thousands of stars are bursting into life in the right of the image due to colliding materials from the two galaxies.
Stars form from clouds of dust and gas and need the right kind of turbulence and heat to knot materials together.
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The pink blobs you see on the image are young giant star clusters that are still covered in the dust and gas that made them.
Astronomer Julianne Dalcanton said: “Simulations show that head-on collisions between two galaxies is one way of making rings of new stars.
“Therefore, rings of star formation are not uncommon. However, what’s weird about this system is that it’s a triangle of star formation.
“Part of the reason for that shape is that these galaxies are still so close to each other and NGC 2444 is still holding on to the other galaxy gravitationally.
“NGC 2444 may also have an invisible hot halo of gas that could help to pull NGC 2445’s gas away from its nucleus.
“So they’re not completely free of each other yet, and their unusual interaction is distorting the ring into this triangle.”
The two galaxies are still technically in a tug-of-war after their collision and NGC 2444 is said to be winning.
PAThe Hubble Space Telescope captured the image[/caption]
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