--- title: "Hubble Snaps Alarming Pic of Two Galaxies Crashing Into Each Other" description: "NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a glorious image of two massive galaxies in the process of colliding with each other." date: "2024-01-16" modified: "2024-01-16" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/hubble-pic-two-galaxies-crashing" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "galaxy merger" - "hubble space telescope" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # Hubble Snaps Alarming Pic of Two Galaxies Crashing Into Each Other ![NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a glorious image of two massive galaxies in the process of colliding with each other.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Arp Matter NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a glorious image of two massive galaxies in the process of colliding with each other. The stunning image shows a warped spiral galaxy dubbed NGC 6040 slowly smashing into another spiral galaxy dubbed LEDA 59642, some 570 million light-years from Earth. The resulting "monster merger," as NASA refers to it in a [blog post](), has its own name, "Arp 122" and could eventually form a singular structure of dust, gas, and dark matter in a matter of hundreds of millions of years. While it looks like the galactic equivalent of a car crash, the process is incredibly slow. Take, for instance the Milky Way, which is on a direct collision course with our neighboring Andromeda Galaxy — except that they're not actually going to meet for another 4 billion years, or about the lifetime of the Earth so far. ![]() *Credit: ESA/NASA* ## Merger Acquisition Astronomers have long studied galaxies in the process of merging throughout the universe. In many cases, the result of two merging galaxies is the formation of one much more massive one, which is [how astronomers suspect]() giant elliptical galaxies like [Cygnus A]() formed. According [to the Harvard Center for Astrophysics](), somewhere between five and 25 percent of all galaxies are in the process of merging and the many varied shapes of galactic mergers are likely the effects of gravitational interactions. Astronomers [also suspect]() that these turbulent collisions are deeply connected with the process of star formation — but given how little we still know about that process, it remains a [point of contention](). On the whole, there's a lot that we still have yet to learn about these epic galactic collisions. "It would be fascinating to know what Arp 122 will look like once this collision is complete," NASA writes in its update, "but that will not happen for a long, long time." **More on galaxy mergers:** *[NASA Releases Hubble Images of Galaxies Smashing Into Each Other]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()