The ????? ??????Hubble Space Telescope doesn't just take pretty pictures; it also helps researchers better understand what they're seeing in the far reaches of space.
Take this newly shared image of UGC 2369, a designation that actually applies to two different galaxies that are slowly, inexorably merging into one. This phenomenon of interacting galaxies comes into play when their gravitational fields overlap and attract.
You can see the connection between the two galaxies making up UGC 2369 in what NASA describes as a "bridge of gas, dust and stars" set between them. It's hard to miss, that curvy, orange-tinged region of space forming what looks at this great distance like a tenuous connection.
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable It's not actually tenuous, however. These brightly colored celestial bodies, each representing millions of stars, are in the active process of merging into one. The so-called "bridge" that connects them is a physical representation of gravity's tug as it pulls the two galaxies (and everything inside them) closer to one another.
This, NASA points out, is a fairly common occurrence in the big picture, though it typically involves a larger galaxy absorbing a smaller one. Bigger collisions are possible, however, and it turns out that we ourselves are headed toward one even now.
SEE ALSO: Facts about space that will rock your worldAt some point in the future, our Milky Way Galaxy will collide with our biggest neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy. Eventually (probably), the two will merge into one galaxy that already has a baller celebrity power couple nickname: Milkomeda. (I would've preferred Milkdromeda.)
Don't bother setting your clocks or marking your calendars, though. This celestial event isn't expected to happen for another four billion years.
Ain't space grand?
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