Click through the gallery to see this week's helping of the best the universe has to offer. And if you need more when you’re done but can’t wait until the next one, here’s the entire collection.
Space Photos of the Week: A Green Pea Galaxy Gets Groovin'
Space photos of the week, January 10–16.
1 / 6
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2016/hubble-views-a-galactic-mega-merger">ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt</a>
SPoW-Jan10-HP-01
NGC 3697 is a product of a collision between two good-sized galaxies, and is slowly evolving to become a giant elliptical galaxy. Astronomers study NGC 3597 to learn more about how elliptical galaxies form — many ellipticals began their lives far earlier in the history of the universe. Before infirmity sets in, some freshly formed elliptical galaxies experience a final flush of youth, as is the case with NGC 3597. Galaxies smashing together pool their available gas and dust, triggering new rounds of star birth. Some of this material ends up in dense pockets initially called proto-globular clusters, dozens of which festoon NGC 3597. These pockets will go on to collapse and form fully-fledged globular clusters, large spheres that orbit the centers of galaxies like satellites, packed tightly full of millions of stars.
