Spectacular! Hubble Captures a Galactic Waterspout

Galaxy NGC 2798 and Galaxy NGC 2799

This Hubble Space Telescope image features galaxy NGC 2799 on the left and galaxy NGC 2798 on the right. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, SDSS, J. Dalcanton Acknowledgment: Judy Schmidt (Geckzilla)

In this spectacular image captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the galaxy NGC 2799 (on the left) is seemingly being pulled into the center of the galaxy NGC 2798 (on the right).

Interacting galaxies, such as these, are so named because of the influence they have on each other, which may eventually result in a merger or a unique formation. Already, these two galaxies have seemingly formed a sideways waterspout, with stars from NGC 2799 appearing to fall into NGC 2798 almost like drops of water.

Galactic mergers can take place over several hundred million to over a billion years. While one might think the merger of two galaxies would be catastrophic for the stellar systems within, the sheer amount of space between stars means that stellar collisions are unlikely and stars typically drift past each other.

2 Comments on "Spectacular! Hubble Captures a Galactic Waterspout"

  1. Let’s not exaggerate | October 19, 2020 at 12:20 pm | Reply

    Really? You must not read a lot.

  2. It’s not a waterspout. It’s part of the Total Perspective Vortex, and NGC 2798 sucks.

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