The new image gives scientists a 'sneak preview' of what will happen in around 5 billion years.
The image depicts the early stages of a galactic merger, one of the most spectacular events in the universe, and shows the two galaxies locked together by their mutual gravitational field.
The respective centers of NGC 4568 and NGC 4567 are still around 20,000 light-years apart, about three-quarters the distance betweenThe original spiral shapes of both galaxies are still clear in the image, but as the merger progresses these arm-like patterns will be destroyed. The galaxies will lose their spiral structures as their battling gravitational forces trigger intense bursts of star formation.
Over millions of years, as the galaxies twist around each other in ever-tightening loops, streamers of gas and stars will be drawn out of each galaxy. This process mixes the individual structures of NGC 4568 and NGC 4567 until a singleAt this point, the fuel for star formation — cool, dense clouds of gas and dust — will have been used up or driven out of what remains of the progenitor galaxies, ending the period of rapid star birth.
By combining computer simulations with observations of galactic mergers like the one between NGC 4568 and NGC 4567, researchers have discovered that mergers between galaxies form smooth and featureless elliptical galaxies. This means that at the end of the merger process, NGC 4568 and NGC 4567 are likely to create a galaxy that looks something like its older neighbor, Messier 89, also located in the Virgo Cluster. This ancient galaxy now only has minimal star formation and is comprised of older, low-mass stars and ancient, tightly bound pockets of tens of thousands to millions of
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