Tag Archive for 'NGC 2623' | Sci.News

NGC 2623 is in the late stages of the merging process, with the centers of the original galaxy pair now merged into one nucleus, but stretching out from the center are two tidal tails of young stars, a strong indicator that a merger has taken place. During such a collision, the dramatic exchange of mass and gases initiates star formation, seen here in both the tails. The prominent lower tail is richly populated with bright star clusters. These star clusters may have formed as part of a loop of stretched material associated with the northern tail, or they may have formed from debris falling back onto the nucleus. In addition to this active star-forming region, both galactic arms harbor very young stars in the early stages of their evolutionary journey. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Spots Twisted Cosmic Knot: NGC 2623

Oct 16, 2017 by News Staff

A jaw-dropping new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures what appears to be a strange galaxy with two ‘tails,’ but is actually the...