Astronomers Use Hubble to Study Colliding Galaxies

HOUSTON, July 22 -- Images of more than a dozen very distant colliding galaxies have been captured by a European-led team of astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. According to astronomers, these findings appear to indicate that massive galaxies may form through collisions of smaller galaxies.
Astronomers used the Hubble to study 81 galaxies that are part of a distant galaxy cluster known as MS1054-03. Thirteen of the galaxies studied are remnants of recent collisions or pairs of colliding galaxies. Though collisions have been observed in other clusters, MS1054-03 exhibits by far the largest number yet found. The 10-meter W.M. Keck Telescope was used to select the 81 galaxies studied.