Four-Galaxy Collision - Neatorama

NASA's orbiting Chandra X-Ray Observatory snapped this shot of Stephan's Quintet, a group of five galaxies, four of which are currently in collision. Follow the link for a larger picture.

Link

Previously on Neatorama:
The Hand of God
Smiley Face Galaxy

I think I see Michael Jackson's ghost. Can you see him smiling to the right of the blue stars?

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Actually, ted, the grouping to the left of the blue stars looks like MJ, if the artists from Coraline had designed it. Otherwise, a very inspiring photograph.

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The Chandra gets such good images, with a little help from the Hawaiian scope, one wonders why we need Hubble anymore.

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And that folks, is why I want to help expand our horizons to the outer reaches of space.

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A dumb question, but how do the experts know the four galaxies are not merely aligned with each other when veiwed from our vantage point?

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buma, there are several ways to check that, one of the best ones is redshift - it's, roughly, a measure of distance along line of sight. If they have similar redshifts, then they are interacting.
You can look for signs of interaction - see that bright blue bumpy strip in the middle? that's star formation triggered by the interaction!

I do merger of galaxies for a living. any questions, please dont hesitate!

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You do merger of galaxies for a living? Do you charge by the galaxy, or the number of stars in the galaxy?

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Think of the insurance claims on that one.

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See what happens when they don't use their turn signals!

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That's a gorgeous picture! I'm gonna set it as my wallpaper

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