Scientists were able to capture the head-on collision of two galaxies 180 million light-years from Earth, so that the stunning scene appeared like a butterfly flapping its wings or a giant candy bar.
Yesterday, Russia Today said that the two colliding galaxies bear the names UGC 12914 and UGC 12915, and are described as “Taffy Galaxies”, given that the shape of the collision resembles the famous brand of “Taffy” sweets.
The twisted shape was captured by the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii. The candy’s shape was the result of a head-on collision between the two galaxies about 25 million years before this image was taken, according to the National Research Laboratory for Optical and Infrared Astronomy (NOIRLab).
A weak bridge of narrow molecular filaments in brown and clumps of hydrogen gas in red can be seen between the two galaxies.
Galaxy collisions are “transformational events” largely responsible for driving the evolution of the universe. It appears that this particular collision, 25-30 million years ago, led to a different type of structure, in which a huge bridge of highly turbulent gas stretched between the two galaxies.
The gas bridge is highly turbulent and devoid of significant star formation in the gap between these two galaxies, due to the tense state of the gas.