Quasar IRAS13218+0552
Depicts: IRAS13218+0552
Copyright: John Bahcall (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton) Mike Disney (University of Wales) and NASA
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Hubble has captured evidence of a dance between two merging
galaxies. The galaxies may have orbited each other several times before merging, leaving distinct loops of glowing gas around quasar IRAS13218+0552. The quasar is 2 billion light-years from Earth. The elongated core in the center of the image may comprise the two nuclei of the merging galaxies.
Last Update: 1 September 2019