A new Hubble image of the Antennae galaxies is the sharpest yet of this merging pair of galaxies. As the two galaxies smash together, billions of stars are born, mostly in groups and clusters of stars. The brightest and most compact of these are called super star clusters.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and B. Whitmore (Space Telescope Science Institute).
Acknowledgement: James Long (ESA/Hubble)
Larger version

>

The Universe is an all-action arena for some of the largest, most slowly evolving dramas known to mankind. A new picture taken by the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), onboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the "sharpest ever" view of the Antennae galaxies - seemingly a violent clash between a pair of once isolated galaxies, but in reality a fertile marriage. As the two galaxies interact, billions of stars are born, mostly in groups and clusters of stars. The brightest and most compact of these are called super star clusters.

Source:
Colliding galaxies pictured in amazing Hubble picture
HUBBLE INFORMATION CENTRE NEWS RELEASE
October 17, 2006
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0610/17antennae/

Posted at 06:28 AM in Science | Permalink

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/763/6492771

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Colliding galaxies: