A new atlas combining ultraviolet and infrared images from the Spitzer telescope and Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) spacecraft captures colliding galaxies from start to finish. Lauranne Lanz of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics unveiled the findings at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Boston on Wednesday. The images provide a better understanding of what could happen when our galaxy collides with the Andromeda galaxy five billion years from now. When two galaxies merge into a larger one, the destruction gives rise to cosmic clouds of gas and dust that become star nurseries. This galactic train wreck transpires over the course of millions to billions of years, making astronomers dependent on an assortment of examples for a complete picture.
Pictured above, the twin spiral galaxies NGC 935 and IC 1801 begin to collide. GALEX ultraviolet emission shows young hot stars in blue while Spitzer illuminates heated dust in red. The different qualities these wavelengths highlight provide rich data for researchers.
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