Hubble Spots Pair of Interacting Galaxies in Coma Cluster

This stunning new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is one of the best ever views of a galaxy duo called MCG+05-31-045.

MCG+05-31-045 is located approximately 390 million light-years away in the constellation of Coma Berenices.

Otherwise known as IC 3935, AGC 221216 or LEDA 44438, the galaxy pair is part of the Coma galaxy cluster.

“The Coma cluster is a particularly rich cluster and contains over a thousand known galaxies,” the Hubble astronomers said in a statement.

“Several can be easily seen with amateur telescopes.”

“Most of them are elliptical galaxies, and that’s typical of a dense galaxy cluster like the Coma cluster: many elliptical galaxies are formed in close encounters between galaxies that stir them up, or even collisions that rip them apart.”

“While the stars in the interacting galaxies can stay together, the gas in the galaxies is a different story — it’s twisted and compressed by gravitational forces, and rapidly used up to form new stars.”

“When the hot, massive, blue stars die, there is little gas left to replace them with new generations of young stars.”

“For interacting spiral galaxies, the regular orbits that produce their striking spiral arms are also disrupted.”

“Whether through mergers or simple near misses, the result is a galaxy almost devoid of gas, with ageing stars orbiting in uncoordinated circles: an elliptical galaxy.”

“It’s very likely that a similar fate will befall MCG+05-31-045,” the astronomers said.

“As the smaller spiral galaxy is torn up and integrated into the larger galaxy, many new stars will form, and the hot, blue ones will quickly burn out, leaving cooler, redder stars behind in an elliptical galaxy much like the others in the Coma cluster.”

“But this process won’t be complete for many millions of years — until then, Queen Berenice II will have to suffer the knots in her hair.”