NGC 6240 formed when two galaxies merged with one another

May 26, 2015 07:05 GMT  ·  By
Bizarre galaxy has appendage-like tails, wisps and loops branching out from it
2 photos
   Bizarre galaxy has appendage-like tails, wisps and loops branching out from it

The galaxies that populate the cosmos come in all shapes and sizes. NGC 6240, for instance, very much resembles the bizarre love child of a butterfly and a lobster. 

No, really, this galaxy has an oddly elongated body complete with Tails, loops and wisps stemming from it and resembling a cohort of limbs.

NGC 6240 was recently imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope in unprecedented detail. The view, included in the gallery below, shows a knotted region at the galaxy's core.

This knotted region, depicted in shades of pink and red in the Hubble Space Telescope image, is made up of dense clouds of gas and cosmic dust.

When previously studying the galaxy back in 2008, the space telescope failed to reveal this structure at its core and produced a more simplistic view of its anatomy.

“The knotted region was only revealed in these new observations from Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys,” astronomers said in a statement, as cited by Science Daily.

NGC 6240 is the result of a galactic merger 

This galaxy, located some 400 million light-years away in the constellation of Ophiuchus, owes its odd shape to the fact that it is the result of a galactic merger.

As explained by NASA/ESA scientists, NGC 6240 came into being when two galaxies got too close to one another and ended up colliding and merging.

This union set the stage for intense star forming processes but also brought about the demise of many stars that exploded into supernovae, astronomers explain.

All this commotion pulled at the clouds of dust and gas comprising the newly formed NGC 6240 and led to the formation of the tails, wisps and loops emerging from the galaxy.

NGC 6240 is estimated to measure about 300,000 light-years from one end to the other. Deep inside it are two black holes located some 3,000 light-years apart.

These black holes originate from the two galaxies that cuddled up together and formed NGC 6240 eons ago. In time, they will move close to each other and merge, forming a single mammoth black hole.

“There are two supermassive black holes within this jumble, spiraling closer and closer to one another. They are now too close to escape each other and will soon form a single immense black hole,” astronomers say.

2008 view of NGC 6240
2008 view of NGC 6240

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Bizarre galaxy has appendage-like tails, wisps and loops branching out from it
2008 view of NGC 6240
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