Hubble Captures Three Galaxies In One Photo, And It Looks Gorgeous

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NASA's Hubble telescope hasseen quite a lot in its 30+ years of operation — but what about three galaxies merging into one? To say that outer space is a strange and wondrous place would be the understatement of the century. From alien planets, blazing bright stars, and billions of other galaxies scattered throughout the universe, it's a neverending stream of fascination.

One instrument that's been essential in uncovering many of these mysteries is Hubble. Launched in April 1990, Hubble's established quite the portfolio over the years. It's helped astronomers determine the age of the universe, establish a better understanding of dark matter, and provided valuable information on Pluto. On top of all that, Hubble's also known for taking jaw-dropping photos. And NASA shares new ones all the time! It's recently published Hubble photos of two galaxies 'dancing' with each other, a strange space 'chamaeleon,' and a galaxy that looks just like that USS Enterprise.

Related: Hubble Captures 'USS Enterprise' Galaxy, And It Looks Amazing

For its latest Hubble picture, NASA just shared an image of something peculiar. Even without any background about what's happening in the photo, it's still quite stunning. Most of the photo shows the deep blackness of space, but in the center is a strange mishmash of light. There's a yellow line on the bottom, a white/blue line on top, and a mix of dust in the middle of the two. There's also a haze of gas/dust surrounding the whole thing — giving it an eerie and alien appearance.

In reality, what you're looking at above is known as galaxy merger IC 2431. It's located around 681 million light-years away from Earth and resides in the Cancer constellation. As the 'galaxy merger' name suggests, this