Hubble returns to a pair of interacting galaxies for a second look

By Georgina Torbet Published April 28, 2022

The image from the Hubble Space Telescope this week shows a pair of interacting galaxies, which are close enough that they are affecting each other, with the tidal interactions of the two pulling on the tails of the larger galaxy and feeding star formation there. The two galaxies even have a shared name, Arp 298.

“Arp 298 – which comprises the two galaxies NGC 7469 and IC 5283 – lies roughly 200 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus,” Hubble scientists write. “The larger of the two galaxies pictured here is the barred spiral galaxy NGC 7469, and IC 5283 is its diminutive companion. NGC 7469 is also host to an active, supermassive black hole and a bright ring of star clusters.”

Arp 298, a stunning pair of interacting galaxies. — This striking image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope showcases Arp 298, a stunning pair of interacting galaxies. ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Evans, R. Chandar

The same pair of galaxies has been observed by Hubble before, in an image released in 2008, though the new image shows the galaxies in great detail. The previous image was taken using Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), but the new image combines data from both the ACS and another Hubble instrument, the Wide Field Camera 3. This camera, installed in 2009, adds additional filters to the image to pick out more details over three observations, with a total of seven filters used in the new image as opposed to the three filters used in the previous image.

Recommended Videos

There will soon be even more detailed images of this galactic pair available, as they will be a target for investigation by the James Webb Space Telescope this summer. Some of Webb’s first science observations will be to investigate the cores of merging galaxies, which are hidden behind a veil of dust in the visible light wavelength. But Webb’s infrared instruments will be able to peer through this dust to learn more about how galaxies merge and how these mergers can trigger star formation.

Topics

Georgina Torbet

Space Writer

Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…

Space

Relive NASA’s debut launch of its mighty SLS rocket on second anniversary

NASA's SLS rocket launching at the start of the Artemis I mission.

NASA’s Artemis I Moon Mission: Launch to Splashdown Highlights

Two years ago, on November 16, NASA performed the maiden launch of its Space Launch System (SLS) mega moon rocket that carried an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to orbit in a mission and marked the official start of the U.S. space agency’s ambitious Artemis program.

Space

Stunning images of nearby galaxies from the VLT Survey Telescope

Image of the irregular dwarf galaxy Sextans A, located at a distance of about 4 million light years from us, towards the edge of the Local Group, captured by the VST (VLT Survey Telescope), an Italian telescope managed by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) at ESO’s Paranal Observatory, Chile.

A gorgeous new set of images shows the striking sight of nearby galaxies, captured by a telescope called the VLT Survey Telescope (VST), located at the European Southern Observatory (ESO)'s Paranal Observatory in Chile. Some of these galaxies are well-known, like the famous Sextans A, which is a small dwarf galaxy with an unusual square shape that is located just 4 million light years away.

Sextans A, shown above, is just a fraction of the size of our Milky Way galaxy at only 5,000 light years across and has been shaped by epic supernova events as stars come to the end of their lives and explode, pushing the material of the galaxy into its odd configuration.

Space

NASA astronauts keep quiet about medical issue returning from ISS

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Pictured left to right, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps.

Three NASA astronauts who recently returned from the International Space Station (ISS) have said that they are in good health but have declined to discuss the medical issue that required them to be diverted to a hospital following their return to Earth. The astronauts, who were part of the Crew-8 mission, landed on October 25 and were taken for routine medical checkups, after which the crew was taken to the Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola hospital for further evaluations, and one member was hospitalized.

NASA has not shared which of the crew, which included Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin as well as NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps, was hospitalized or why. However, the agency did state that the reentry and splashdown process of their spacecraft was normal and that the affected crew member was released from the hospital the next day in good health.