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Hubble Space Telescope captures dazzling image of interacting galaxies

The extreme brightness is caused by matter whirling into a supermassive black hole at the galaxy's heart, according to NASA.

By Steven Yablonski Source FOX Weather

A new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope shows interacting galaxies known as AM 1214-255. (NASA, ESA, A. Barth (University of California - Irvine), and J. Dalcanton (University of Washington); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) / NASA)

NASA has released a stunning image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope that shows bright interacting galaxies, known as AM 1214-255.

"Its extreme brightness is caused by matter whirling into a supermassive black hole at the galaxy's heart," NASA said in a news release.

HOW THE TELESCOPE BECAME OUR WINDOW INTO THE UNIVERSE

Hubble Space Telescope used to watch black hole eat a star

Astronomers used Hubble Space Telescope's ultraviolet capabilities to investigate the death of a recently devoured star nearly 300 million light-years away. These events are known as "tidal disruptions."

The telescope was able to observe the galaxy closest to the center as part of a survey studying active galactic nuclei (AGN), which is an extraordinarily luminous central region of a galaxy.

The survey involves compiling a dataset about nearby AGNs that will be used as a resource for astronomers investigating AGN physics, black holes, host galaxy structures and more.

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A new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope shows interacting galaxies known as AM 1214-255. (NASA, ESA, A. Barth (University of California - Irvine), and J. Dalcanton (University of Washington); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America))

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The irregular spiral galaxy NGC 5486. Released by NASA on March 10, 2023. (ESA/Hubble and NASA / C. Kilpatrick)

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The Pinwheel Galaxy. Released by NASA on October 19, 2017. (Hubble Image: NASA, ESA, K. Kuntz (JHU), F. Bresolin (University of Hawaii), J. Trauger (Jet Propulsion Lab), J. Mould (NOAO), Y.-H. Chu (University of Illinois, Urbana) and STScI; CFHT Image: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/J.-C. Cuillandre/Coelum; NOAO Image: G. Jacoby, B. Bohannan, M. Hanna/NOAO/AURA/NSF)

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The three colliding galaxies. (ESA/Hubble and NASA, M. Sun)

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393310 01: These NASA Hubble Space Telescope snapshots reveal a white bubble of activity within the core of the galaxy NGC 3079, as hot gas is rises from glowing matter. The picture at left shows the bubble in the center of the galaxy''s disk. The structure is more than 3,000 light-years wide and rises 3,500 light-years above the galaxy''s disk. The smaller photo at right is a close-up view of the bubble. Astronomers suspect that the bubble is being blown by "winds" (high-speed streams of particles) released during a burst of star formation. The two white dots just above the bubble are probably stars in the galaxy. (Photo courtesy NASA/Getty Images) (NASA)

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The Hubble Space Telescope floats above the Earth's atmosphere. (NASA)

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This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures the spiral galaxy NGC 105, which lies roughly 215 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces. (NASA)

The Hubble Space Telescope has operated in space for over 20 years since launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 1990. Since then, Hubble has captured stunning images and videos documenting things such as black holes, colliding galaxies and more.

Watch: New video shows DART asteroid impact debris from Hubble space telescope

A video NASA released on Wednesday shows the debris caused by the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission spacecraft slamming into the asteroid Dimorphos. (Courtesy: NASA / ESA / STScI / Jian-Yang Li (PSI) / Joseph DePasquale (STScI))

The mammoth space telescope also captured images showing debris caused by the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission spacecraft slamming into an asteroid.