Hubble captures a spectacular trio of merging galaxies | See pic

This spectacular picture from NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a trio of galaxies on the verge of collision. Located in the constellation Boötes, the three galaxies will eventually merge into a single larger galaxy, distorting one another's spiral structure through mutual gravitational interaction in the process.

This colliding galactic trio, named SDSSCGB 10189, is a relatively rare combination of three large star-forming galaxies lying within only 50,000 light-years of one another. The trio was captured in painstaking detail using Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS).

An unconnected, dimmer spiral galaxy is also visible in this Hubble image. The background is dark, with a few smaller, dim and much more distant galaxies and a couple of stars

1/ A spectacular trio of merging galaxies in the constellation Boötes takes centre stage in this image from Hubble. These three galaxies are set on a collision course eventually merging into a larger galaxy. pic.twitter.com/uhNO0ccccW

— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) February 13, 2023

This observation was designed to help astronomers understand the origin of the so-called Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs) - the largest and most luminous galaxies found at the centres of galaxy clusters. BCGs are thought to have formed from the merging of large, gas-rich galaxies like the ones in this image.

BCGs are an important part of our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution as they provide valuable information about the large-scale structure of the universe, as well as the processes that govern the growth and evolution of the Universe's most massive galaxies.