The Hubble telescope has discovered three galaxies that are about to collide

The Hubble Space Telescope has taken a new picture showing the convergence of three galaxies in the constellation Bootes. Their trajectory will inevitably lead to collision and merging, writes space. Although this happens quite often, this is a rare occurrence, as each of the three galaxies is currently in the process of creating new stars.

The galaxies are only 50,000 light-years apart. Although this may seem like a huge distance, from a cosmic point of view it is very close. For comparison: Andromeda, the closest galaxy to the Milky Way, is located at a distance of more than 2.4-2.7 million light years from it (their merger is predicted only after 4 billion years).

The shapes of all three galaxies are already distorted, filaments of gas and dust are visible connecting them, they emit a large amount of light - all pointing to an impending collision, scientists say.

This image from the Hubble Space Telescope is part of a study into the origins of the largest and most massive star systems in the universe, which astronomers call the "brightest cluster galaxies" (BCG). The merger of SDSSCGB 10189 may lead to the birth of one of them. Scientists hope that this will shed light on the mystery of their formation.