Galaxy AM 1054’325 has been distorted into an S-shape from a normal pancake-like spiral shape by the gravitational pull of a neighboring galaxy, seen in this Hubble Space Telescope image. A consequence of this is that newborn clusters of stars form along a stretched-out tidal tail for thousands of light-years, resembling a string of pearls. They form when knots of gas gravitationally collapse to create about 1 million newborn stars per cluster. (NASA, ESA, STScI, Jayanne English (University of Manitoba)
Galaxy AM 1054'325 has been distorted into an S-shape from a normal pancake-like spiral shape by the gravitational pull of a neighboring galaxy, seen in this Hubble Space Telescope image. A consequence of this is that newborn clusters of stars form along a stretched-out tidal tail for thousands of light-years, resembling a string of pearls. They form when knots of gas gravitationally collapse to create about 1 million newborn stars per cluster. (NASA, ESA, STScI, Jayanne English (University of Manitoba) Western professor Sarah Gallagher in astronomers' team which examined space telescope images of stars being born Galaxy collisions do not destroy stars, though this might seem to contradict conventional wisdom, not to mention storylines in countless Hollywood blockbusters. In fact, according to researchers, the rough-and-tumble dynamics trigger new generations of stars, and presumably accompanying planets. Since its launch into low Earth orbit in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has gathered dozens of terabytes of data, including a multitude of interstellar images, providing invaluable information for astronomers like Western University's Sarah Gallagher. Hubble, one of the most productive and versatile space telescopes ever deployed, zeroed in on 12 interacting galaxies that have long, tadpole-like 'tidal tails' of gas, dust and a plethora of stars.
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