New Hubble Pics of Galaxy Formation

[n2doc]

Images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have provided a dramatic glimpse of a large and massive galaxy under assembly by the merging of smaller, lighter galaxies. Astrophysicists believe that this is the way galaxies grew in the young universe. Now, Hubble observations of the radio galaxy MRC 1138-262, nicknamed the "Spiderweb Galaxy" show dozens of star-forming satellite galaxies as individual clumpy features in the process of merging. Because the galaxy is 10.6 billion light-years away, astronomers are seeing it as it looked in the universe's early formative years, only 3 billion years after the Big Bang.

A striking feature of the Spiderweb Galaxy is the presence of several faint, small linear galaxies within the merging structure. The complexity and clumpiness agree with predictions of hierarchical galaxy formation models. Hierarchical structure formation is the scenario in which galaxies and clusters are assembled "from the bottom up," with small building blocks merging to form the larger structures. It also supports the assumption that distant powerful radio galaxies represent the merging of smaller star systems to create the giant galaxies seen at the centers of galaxy clusters in our own cosmic neighborhood. The Hubble provides a unique real-world example for simulations of forming dominant cluster galaxies.

The Spiderweb Galaxy is located in the southern constellation of Hydra (the water snake), and is one of the most massive galaxies known.






http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2006/45/image/a

[Deep13]

1. You mean new Hubble pic of lights painted inside celestial dome...

...by God to test our faith.

[redqueen]

3. God sure paints some beeeyootiful lights. n/t

[rhiannon55]

6. God's even a better artist than Picasso

Hope she keeps painting....:)

[Freedom_from_Chains]

2. Great Pics, thanks for posting. n/t

[BlueJazz]

4. Cool....I never get tired of seeing how the Universe works.

I remember, as a 14 year old boy, making a 6" reflector and being SO proud when I put it together and having it work so beautifully.

When I was older and I bought a used 14" , I used to stay outside for hours and hours exploring the cosmos and thinking "Geez...look at those Galaxies so very far away...each one containing billions of Stars and possible life".

We are Important..True..but so unimportant in the grand scheme of things....

[LTR]

5. What if it isn't a galaxy formation...

...and someone just needs to wipe the dust off the lense? :shrug:

Just kidding. Actually, these are some pretty neat pics! I liked the Saturn ones earlier.