IC 2431 is a massive galaxy of not two but three galaxies, 681 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cancer. The Hubble Space Telescope captured an epic image of this colossal collision in progress, as well as the turbulent star formation and tidal deformations brought about by the galactic trio’s gravitational interactions. The center of the image is not visible due to the dense cloud of dust. As the galaxies merge, the black holes at their center will also join, forming a huge black hole.
Such collisions will help us understand the growth and evolution of galaxies over millions or even billions of years, as well as predict how the universe will change in the centuries to come. Galactic compounds appear to be very rare given the space, but they do play an important role in the evolution of galaxies.
Our Milky Way has gone through several associations over its 13.6 billion year history. Astronomers believe that galaxies are gravitationally attracted to each other, perhaps through an invisible cosmic web that extends into the universe and creates clusters that gradually unite.
You can even download the above image in wallpaper sizes from the ESA site.
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