The universe is loaded with mysteries, and space experts, on a daily basis witness some unexpected events in the cosmos. The latest addition to this long list is a picture of merging galaxies captured by the United States space agency NASA. A seemingly intimate cosmic fusion, the photograph shows two swirling galaxies merging in a galactic system 140 million light-years from the earth.
Cosmic Fusion: Intimate or violent?
As these two galaxies merged in an intimate manner, shock waves rumbled through both of them and triggered waves of new star formation. It should be noted that some of these stars are very large and live brief but violent lives.
NASA shared the image of these merging galaxies on the space agency's Instagram page, and captioned it 'Blended, not stirred, please.' In the image, two oval-shaped objects in close proximity can be seen emitting bundles of blue X-rays that illuminate the surrounding areas.
Chandra X-Ray Observatory: NASA's trump card in capturing distant cosmic images
NASA captured this mind-blowing image of galaxy merging using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The US space agency launched Chandra X-Ray Observatory in 1999, and since then, it has been NASA's flagship mission for X-ray astronomy.
"Data from Chandra X-Ray Observatory reveals 25 bright X-ray sources sprinkled throughout. Fourteen of these sources are such strong emitters of X-rays that astronomers categorize them as "ultra-luminous X-ray sources," or ULXs. These ULXs are likely binary systems where a black hole or neutron star is pulling material from a companion star.," wrote NASA on its Instagram page.
The image shared by NASA soon went viral, and it has already racked up more than 5,66,000 on the photo-sharing platform. Most of the space enthusiasts are now lauding NASA for showcasing the exquisiteness of this cosmic event in its full beauty.
