Astronomers working with the Hubble telescope have published a new image. It shows a tangle of galaxies located in the constellation Coma Berenices.
The galaxies photographed by Hubble are known as MCG+05-31-045. They are located about 390 million light-years away from Earth and are part of the Coma cluster. It has a diameter of about 50 million light-years and is home to more than a thousand identified galaxies. They are held together by mysterious dark matter. Some of them can be easily seen in amateur telescopes.
Most of the galaxies in the Coma cluster are elliptical, which is typical for such a dense structure. Elliptical galaxies are thought to form from collisions between spiral galaxies. While stars in interacting galaxies can stick together, gas is a different matter. It is twisted and compressed by gravitational forces and is rapidly consumed to form new luminaries. When hot massive stars die, there is little gas left to replace them with new generations. Interacting spiral galaxies also have broken regular orbits that lead to the formation of their characteristic arms. As a result, an object almost devoid of gas is born, with aging stars orbiting in uncoordinated orbits. Or, in other words, an elliptical galaxy.
It is likely that MCG+05-31-045 will face a similar fate. As the smaller spiral galaxy breaks apart and integrates into the larger galaxy, many new stars will form. The most massive and hotter luminaries will quickly “burn out,” leaving behind cooler and redder stars in an elliptical galaxy similar to many others in the cluster. But this process is not instantaneous. The transformation of MCG+05-31-045 will take many millions of years.
The constellation that gave its name to the Coma cluster has a rather curious history. It is the only one named after a real-life person — Berenices (Veronica), wife of Egyptian King Ptolemy III (3rd century BC). When her husband went on a military campaign, she cut off her hair and placed it in the temple of Aphrodite. According to legend, the hair disappeared mysteriously, and the court astronomer explained that it was placed in the sky and became new stars. Later, the name Coma Berenices stuck to them, which over time was taken over by the constellation.
Earlier we reported on how Hubble photographed a galaxy with a supernova.
Provided by Esahubble
