At first glance, you think it is a pair of eyes looking at you from a face with no skin removed, but it is just two galaxies close to each other called “IC 2163” to the left and “NGC 2207” to the right, which were recently examined by the Hubble and James Webb Observatories.
Pairs of galaxies are a common phenomenon in the visible universe, and scientists have observed these pairs in several stages of their meeting. They may be relatively far from each other, or they may be completely overlapping and distorted, but in a wonderful way.
In this case, researchers from the two observatories worked to examine the state of the merger of the two galaxies, and it turned out that they had not yet coalesced, as the galaxy on the left is still located behind the right galaxy, at a close distance, and they will merge together soon. Within tens or hundreds of millions of years, they will become one galaxy.
Scientists have found this Results Using James Webb’s penetrating capabilities, the space observatory takes images in the infrared range, which can see what lies behind galactic clouds of gas and dust, to determine whether the merger between the two galaxies has already begun or not.
This is roughly similar to someone breaking a bone in their arm, so they go to the hospital for an X-ray examination that penetrates the skin to reveal the bones underneath. In James Webb’s case, infrared radiation can penetrate clouds of gas and dust and reveal what’s happening beneath them.
Active galaxies
Although the two galaxies did not actually coalesce, their influence on each other became clear millions of years ago, due to gravity, as each of them can influence the other components of the galaxy, such as clouds of gas and dust.
This is similar to the Moon, for example, being able, despite its extreme distance, to extend its gravitational hand to influence the Earth’s waters and move them, and from here arises the phenomenon of tides.
These clouds, which cover galaxies in general, are the reason for the emergence of stars, because as they are stirred and moved by the gravity of the galaxy coming from afar, some of their parts accumulate on each other, in a way similar to the increasing size of a snowball running on ice, and at some point the ball forms So heavy that it allows nuclear fusion reactions to occur at its center, which leads to the formation of stars.
Therefore, the two galaxies produce the equivalent of 20 new sun-sized stars each year, while the Milky Way produces the equivalent of 2 or 3 new sun-sized stars annually.
In addition, the two galaxies have witnessed 7 supernovae observed by scientists in recent decades, which is a high number compared to the average of one supernova every 50 years in the Milky Way Galaxy, and the increasing rate of supernovae indicates great activity in the galaxy.
Scientists believe that our Milky Way galaxy is heading towards a similar fate, as it and the Andromeda Galaxy are heading towards each other at a speed greater than 100 kilometers per second, and they may merge together in 4 billion years.
After the coalescence, the two galaxies will turn into one huge elliptical galaxy, bringing the stars of the two galaxies together, and their two giant black holes in the center will merge into one giant, super-massive black hole.
