Galactic triplet Arp 248, with two galaxies connected by a tidal tail.
The Hubble Space Telescope recently revealed a spectacular image of two of the galaxies in the galactic triplet. As per American space agency NASA, the triplet Arp 248 is also known as Wild's Triplet and lies around 200 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo.
In this viral image, an arrangement of interacting galaxies looks both visually and scientifically appealing and seems to be connected by a bridge. The official website of the agency wrote, "The two large spiral galaxies visible in this image - which flank a smaller, unrelated background spiral galaxy - appear connected by a luminous bridge."
As the galaxies gravitationally pull on one another, a stream of stars, gas, and dust is formed, connecting the galaxies. "This elongated stream of stars and interstellar dust is known as a tidal tail, and it is formed by the mutual gravitational attraction of the two foreground galaxies," the website adds.
In a press release, the space agency also added that this discovery is a result of a project which delves into two galleries of weird and wonderful galaxies: A Catalogue of Southern Peculiar Galaxies and Associations.
A few days ago, the telescope had shot a stunning image of a "spiral galaxy" and it went viral on the internet. It captured a shot of nearby stars in the Milky Way that were seen shining just as brightly as its galactic companion.
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The European Space Agency had originally released the image of the NGC 5495 galaxy back on September 26. However, it recently went viral due to the Milky Way's stars within it effectively photobombing the spiral galaxy. Galaxy NGC 5495 lies 300 million light-years from Earth.
The Hubble telescope, launched more than 30 years ago, is a joint project by American space agency NASA and European Space Agency (ESA).