NASA shares stunning new Hubble image of five tightly grouped galaxies

NASA has released a stunning new Hubble image of five tightly grouped galaxies as they fall together and continue their dance, but before they merge. Known as the Hickson Compact Group 40 (HCG 40), the group includes three spiral-shaped galaxies, an elliptical galaxy and a lenticular (lens-like) galaxy.

The galaxies are notably isolated in their own small patch of the universe, in the direction of the constellation Hydra. According to NASA, in about 1 billion years, these galaxies will collide and merge to form a giant elliptical galaxy.

Happy birthday, Hubble! 🥳As we celebrate the telescope's 32nd anniversary week, enjoy this birthday present – a stunning new Hubble image of a collection of five galaxies, known as Hickson Compact Group 40.Read more: https://t.co/gKiKp4nRSs pic.twitter.com/Jwz0PG6qvJ

— Hubble (@NASAHubble) April 19, 2022

Located about 300 million light-years away, HCG 40 is one of the most densely packed galaxy groups. While X-ray observations show that the galaxies have been gravitationally interacting due to the presence of a lot of hot gas among the galaxies, infrared observations reveal clues to the rate of new star formation.

Astronomers believe that such tight groups may have been more common in the early universe when their superheated, infalling material may have fueled very energetic black holes called quasars.

This picture was snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope, a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency, for its 32nd birthday. The space-based observatory was deployed into orbit around Earth by NASA astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery, on April 25, 1990.

Hubble has taken 1.5 million observations of approximately 50,000 celestial targets to date.