In this Hubble Space Telescope image, we can clearly see the interacting galaxy pair known as Arp-Madore 2339-661, but upon closer inspection, there’s a third galaxy that cannot be easily seen. To be more clear, the third galaxy can be observed as a notable knot-like structure, glowing with a different color to the arm and obscured by dark dust.
The two clearly defined galaxies are NGC 7733 (smaller, lower right) and NGC 7734 (larger, upper left), while the third galaxy is known as NGC 7733N. These three galaxies are located approximately 500 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Tucana, and interacting gravitationally with one another. Ultimately, this ‘merging group’ will become a single entity over time.
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This is actually one of the many challenges that observational astronomers face: working out whether an astronomical object really is just one, or one lying in front of another as seen from Earth’s perspective!,” said the European Space Agency.
