Cosmic Collisions: The Hubble Atlas of Merging Galaxies

Like no other telescope ever invented, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has given us magnificent high resolution views of the gigantic cosmic collisions between galaxies. Hubble's images are snapshots in time and catch the colliding galaxies in different stages of collision. Thanks to a new and amazing set of 60 Hubble images, for the first time these different stages can be put together to form a still-frame movielike montage showing the incredible processes taking place as galaxies collide and merge.

The significance of these cosmic encounters reaches far beyond aesthetics. Galaxy mergers may, in fact, be some of the most important processes that shape our universe. Colliding galaxies very likely, hold some of the most important clues to our cosmic past and to our destiny. It now seems clear that the Milky Way is continuously undergoing merging events, some small scale, others on a gigantic scale. And the importance of this process in the lives of galaxies is much greater than what was previously thought.

Lars Lindberg Christensen, Raquel Yumi Shida & Davide De Martin

Cosmic Collisions: The Hubble Atlas of Merging Galaxies

Like majestic ships in the grandest night, galaxies can slip ever closer until their mutual gravitational interaction begins to mold them into intricate figures that are finally, and irreversibly, woven together. It is an immense cosmic dance, choreographed by gravity.

Cosmic Collisions contains a hundred new, many thus far unpublished, images of colliding galaxies from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

It is believed that many present-day galaxies, including the Milky Way, were assembled from such a coalescence of smaller galaxies, occurring over billions of years. Triggered by the colossal and violent interaction between the galaxies, stars form from large clouds of gas in firework bursts, creating brilliant blue star clusters. The importance of these cosmic encounters reaches far beyond the stunning Hubble images. They may, in fact, be among the most important processes that shape the universe we inhabit today.

Popular Science

ISBN 978-0-387-387-93853-0

Springer.com