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NASA's Chandra Captures Two Galaxies Merging at a Furious Rate

A new composite image combining Chandra, Hubble and James Webb data shows two galaxies colliding in the system II Zw 096, revealing black hole activity and hidden star-forming regions.

Step by step

  1. 1

    Two galaxies collide as II Zw 096

  2. 2

    Chandra X-rays reveal black hole activity

  3. 3

    Hubble optical light adds detail

  4. 4

    Webb infrared reveals hidden star nurseries

  5. 5

    Composite shows early-universe galaxy collisions

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has released a new image of two galaxies merging at a furious rate in a system known as , captured on August 25, 2026. The image combines data from Chandra with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope, and is among several new images of visually and scientifically interesting galaxies released by the observatories.

In the , Chandra's X-ray data, shown in magenta, pinpoint powerful black hole activity and hot gas, while optical data from Hubble (blue and white) and infrared data from Webb reveal vast stellar nurseries -- regions where new stars are forming -- hidden behind .

Systems like II Zw 096 show how powerful galaxy collisions shaped the early universe.

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The story so far

  1. Record Black Hole Merger May Have Looked Bigger Than It Really Was
  2. New Method Catalogs the Faint 'Ringing' Overtones of Merging Black Holes
  3. Hawaii High School Students Image Merging Galaxy Pair, Give It Hawaiian Name
  4. NASA's Chandra Telescope Finds a Bizarre New Class of Cosmic Objects
  5. 'Impossible' Black Hole Merger May Be a Trick of Warped Spacetime
  6. Black Hole Winds Carry 100 Times More Energy Than Once Thought, Study Finds
  7. NASA's Chandra Captures Two Galaxies Merging at a Furious Rate
#Chandra X-ray Observatory#galaxy merger#Hubble#James Webb Space Telescope#black holes
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