NGC 6240 lies 400 million light-years away in the constellation of
Ophiuchus (The Serpent Holder). This galaxy has an elongated shape with
branching wisps, loops and tails. This mess of gas, dust and stars bears
more than a passing resemblance to a butterfly and a lobster. New
research is untangling the reasons for its odd shape.
NGC 6240 lies 400 million light-years away in the constellation of
Ophiuchus (The Serpent Holder). This galaxy has an elongated shape with
branching wisps, loops and tails. This mess of gas, dust and stars bears
more than a passing resemblance to a butterfly and a lobster.
This bizarrely-shaped galaxy did not begin its life looking like
this; its distorted appearance is a result of a galactic merger that
occurred when two galaxies drifted too close to one another. This merger
sparked bursts of new star formation and triggered many hot young stars
to explode as supernovae. A new supernova, not visible in this image
was discovered in this galaxy in 2013, named SN 2013dc.
At the center of NGC 6240 an even more interesting phenomenon is
taking place. When the two galaxies came together, their central black
holes did so, too. There are two supermassive black holes within this
jumble, spiraling closer and closer to one another. They are currently
only some 3,000 light-years apart, incredibly close given that the
galaxy itself spans 300,000 light-years. This proximity secures their
fate as they are now too close to escape each other and will soon form a
single immense black hole.
This story is taken from Science Daily
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