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nasa is celebrating the hubble space

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telescope's 32nd birthday with a

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stunning look at five galaxies a

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close-knit collection called the hixon

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compact group 40.

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this amazing assembly includes a giant

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elliptical galaxy glowing with blended

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light from billions of stars

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several spiral galaxies show prominent

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dusty lanes that outline their winding

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spiral arms regions where star formation

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is active

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we see one galaxy oriented edge on

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showing off its prominent dust along its

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flattened starry disk

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this eclectic group of galaxies is held

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together in a gravitational dance

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the group is so crowded that it could

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fit within a space less than twice the

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span of our own milky way galaxy's disk

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a mysterious and invisible form of

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matter called dark matter may explain

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this tightly bound group

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when galaxies with a lot of dark matter

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come close together that dark matter can

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form a big cloud around the entire group

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as the galaxies plow through this cloud

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of dark matter its gravitational effects

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act like a frictional force that slows

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their motion

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causing the galaxies to lose energy and

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fall together

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this snapshot catches the galaxies at a

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very special moment in their lifetimes

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in about one billion years they will

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eventually collide and merge to form one

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giant elliptical galaxy

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hubble's incredible sensitivity also

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picks up a diverse collection of more

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distant galaxies glowing in the

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background

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because hubble orbits above earth's

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atmosphere it can give us these clear

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views of the many wonders in our

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universe

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for 32 years the hubble space telescope

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has changed the way we think of space

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and our place in the cosmos

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hubble has refined our understanding of

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the age of the universe and its rate of

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expansion

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its deep field images have made it

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possible for us to see across billions

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of light years

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revealing ancient adolescent galaxies

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that we can compare with our own milky

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way

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hubble remains in good health and is

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expected to continue its exploration of

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the universe for years to come

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five astronaut servicing missions along

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with an expert technical team on the

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ground have kept the telescope at the

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peak of its scientific capabilities

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you can find out more about the hubble

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space telescope at our website nasa.gov

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hubble and on social media at nasa