‘Frankenstein’ galaxy UGCÂ*1382 surprises astronomers

https://astronomynow.com/2016/07/13/...s-astronomers/

About 250 million light-years away, there’s a neighbourhood of our universe that astronomers had considered quiet and unremarkable. But now, scientists have uncovered an enormous, bizarre galaxy possibly formed from the parts of other galaxies.

A new study to be published in the Astrophysical Journal reveals the secret of UGC 1382, a galaxy that had originally been thought to be old, small and typical. Instead, scientists using data from NASA telescopes and other observatories have discovered that the galaxy is 10 times bigger than previously thought and, unlike most galaxies, its insides are younger than its outsides, almost as if it had been built using spare parts.

On 13/07/2016 5:25 PM, Mandy Liefbowitz wrote:
Could we be seeing a collision? By random chance, the moment when
three galaxies just happen to be passing through each other on their
way to their own individual destinies?
Well, two galaxies and a gas cloud, a Voorwerp.

Well, definitely a collision, probably one or two moderate sized dwarf
galaxies being pulled apart by the central elliptical galaxy and turning
into the elliptical's spiral arms.

Yousuf Khan

In article ,
Mandy Liefbowitz writes:
Could we be seeing a collision?

The authors suggest multiple collisions with dwarf galaxies created
the outer structure. Preprint is at
http://arxiv.org/abs/1607.02147

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In article
Mandy Liefbowitz wrote:

On Wed, 13 Jul 2016 22:19:51 -0400, Yousuf Khan
wrote:

On 13/07/2016 5:25 PM, Mandy Liefbowitz wrote:
Could we be seeing a collision? By random chance, the moment when
three galaxies just happen to be passing through each other on their
way to their own individual destinies?
Well, two galaxies and a gas cloud, a Voorwerp.

Well, definitely a collision, probably one or two moderate sized dwarf
galaxies being pulled apart by the central elliptical galaxy and turning
into the elliptical's spiral arms.

That's so cool.

Uhn... unless you're *IN* one of those pulled-apart galaxies, of
course. Poor babies. I wonder if anyone is? I wonder whether we'll
ever know?

Thank you.
And thank you for all of your posts, you are interesting, intriguing
and often provide stuff that is ever so lovely.

We are both in a galaxy that is in collision. So far, so good.

I've read that while things like star clusters and various
groupings and gas get moved around a lot, planets are not all that
likely to have something bad happen to them.

Our galactic collision is not as complicated as the one in the
galaxy mentioned, but we're doing all right with what may be
multiple collisions currently and in the galactically recent past.

On 14/07/2016 3:28 PM, Mandy Liefbowitz wrote:
That's so cool.

Uhn... unless you're*IN* one of those pulled-apart galaxies, of
course. Poor babies. I wonder if anyone is? I wonder whether we'll
ever know?

It wouldn't matter so much all of the stars and solar systems in each
pulled-apart galaxy would survive intact inside the new galaxy. Our own
galaxy is like that too, it's made up of the remains of dozens of dwarf
galaxies that were around before. For all we know our part of the Milky
Way was once part of some other dwarf galaxy.

Yousuf Khan