NASA and the European Space Agency (ESAHubble )’s Space Telescope obtained a stunning image of a big galaxy (NGC 169) dragging cosmic material away from a smaller galaxy (IC 1559).
“As common as these interactions are considered to be in the Universe,” the ESA explained, “it is rare to acquire an image of two galaxies interacting in such an obviously dynamic way.”
The larger galaxy pulls on the smaller galaxy because it has greater mass. “Gas, dust, and even entire solar systems will be dragged away from one galaxy and towards the other,” according to the space agency.
We can see the event occuring from almost two hundred million light-years away thanks to Hubble. “In this view, this process can actually be seen in operation – delicate streamers of matter have formed, plainly joining the two galaxies,” the ESA said.
Our own Milky Way galaxy will see severe galactic contact in the future. The Milky Way will inevitably collide with the bigger Andromeda galaxy in 4 billion years. NASA predicts a massive merger that will result in a single, massive galaxy.
https://twitter.com/esa/status/1490610021138411525