NASA recently shared a picture of a space object that looks like a cross between a jellyfish and a fairy. It is actually evidence of a cataclysmic happening – the collision of 2 spiral galaxies.
NASA recently shared a picture of a space object that looks like a cross between a jellyfish and a fairy.
While it appears rather benign, it is actually evidence of a cataclysmic happening – the collision of two spiral galaxies.
Named IRAS 14348-1447, the tumultuous entity likely ended up in its predicament when the two galaxies involved got a bit too close to one another.
In doing so, they created an inescapable gravitational link between them.
The resulting mass, which is located roughly 1 billion light-years away, is, according to NASA, astoundingly rich in gasses.
The agency also notes, “The huge amount of molecular gas within…fuels its emission, and undergoes a number of dynamical processes as it interacts and moves around; these very same mechanisms are responsible for IRAS 14348-1447’s own whirling and ethereal appearance, creating prominent tails and wisps extending away from the main body of the galaxy.”
