Tag: Galaxies

An unusual elliptical galaxy with a history of absorbing smaller galaxies appears to be approaching its next target. New images from the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Paranal Observatory suggest that the galaxy, known as NGC 3640, may soon merge with a smaller galactic companion. Located 88 million light-years from Earth, NGC 3640 belongs to a group of galaxies that range in shape and size, including its own unusual oval or egg shape. The VLT images revealed that NGC 3640 has eaten other galaxies over…

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Astronomers have discovered what may be the largest-scale structure in the known universe — a group of galaxy clusters and clusters of galaxy clusters that spans roughly 1.3 billion light-years across and contains a mind-boggling 200 quadrillion solar masses. The newfound structure is dubbed Quipu after an Incan system of counting and storing numbers using knots on cords. Like a Quipu cord, the structure is complex, made up of one long filament and multiple side filaments. It spans roughly 1.3 billion light-years (more than 13,000 times the length of the…

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Astronomers have discovered a rare group of five dwarf galaxies located relatively close to Earth; these galaxies exist in a near-perfect alignment, resembling a string of cosmic pearls in the sky. Held together by their mutual gravity, several of the dwarf galaxies (designated D1 to D5) are rhythmically dancing with one another while others are engaged in a “cosmic tug of war,” ripping gas and stars away from each other. The scientists behind this discovery say these factors make this dwarf galaxy grouping particularly intriguing. The arrangement may be as…

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