In cases like this, one large galaxy can easily absorb a smaller dwarf galaxy. How to predict what will happen when two galaxies meet is a complex issue thought to relate to the galaxies’ supermassive black holes, but we do know that the outcome depends on the size of the galaxies involved. Peer inside the bar of a barred spiral galaxy in new James Webb imageĪ small, fuzzy dwarf galaxy in our neighborhood captured by Hubble “A similar process has happened in the Milky Way, possibly six times in the past, leaving vast streams of stars and other signs in the halo of the Milky Way.”Īstronomers spot an exoplanet creating spiral arms around its star “This lopsided cosmic tug-of-war is a snapshot of how large galaxies grow and evolve by devouring smaller galaxies, absorbing their stars and star-forming material,” NOIRLab explains. The image - taken by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Dark Energy Camera - captures the mutual gravitational influences of a massive galaxy and dwarf galaxy merger. The spiral galaxy NGC 1532, also known as Haley’s Coronet, is caught in a lopsided tug-of-war with its smaller neighbor, the dwarf galaxy NGC 1531. The dwarf galaxy is in the process of merging with the larger galaxy, which is being pulled into an irregular shape by the gravitational forces. The dramatic interaction is occurring between a large spiral galaxy known as Haley’s Coronet and a smaller dwarf galaxy called NGC 1531. A recent image from the Dark Energy Camera shows an act of galactic cannibalism, with a spiral galaxy similar to our Milky Way about to devour a nearby dwarf galaxy that has wandered into its path.
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