This new #HubbleFriday image captures a pair of interacting galaxies located 390 million light-years away. They're called MCG+05-31-045. It really is the talk of the town.

This cosmic mess will probably eventually result in a galaxy merger. As the small spiral galaxy integrates into the larger galaxy, many new stars will form and the hot, blue ones will burn up quickly, leaving behind cooler, redder stars to form what is known as an elliptical galaxy.

MCG+05-31-045 is part of the Coma galaxy cluster, which includes more than a thousand known galaxies, many of which are elliptical.

Image description:

In the center is a large, oval-shaped galaxy with a glowing, ringed core. To the left of the center is a second, smaller galaxy with two spiral arms. The pair of galaxies are so close that they appear to be merging: a tail of material with several glowing dots connects from one of the spiral arms of the smaller galaxy to the larger galaxy. A faint halo surrounds both galaxies. A few stars can be seen around the pair.

 

Image credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. J. Foley (UC Santa Cruz)

As you can see, galaxies are blending together and we're still...