The Hubble Space Telescope Recorded the Fusion of Galaxies (Photos)

Scientists have acquired an early stage photo from a galactic fusion process thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope.

The two galaxies that were shot are some 350 million light years away from the Earth in the constellation Whale. The process is in an early stage. They will continue to converge for millions of years, and then become a homogeneous structure.

Such mergers are a common phenomenon in the universe. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, should begin a similar "collision" with neighboring Andromeda after 4 billion years.

Last year, Hubble shot footage from a merger of two other galaxies about 60 million light-years from the Earth in the constellation Leo. They are so close to each other that they are strongly influenced by gravitational forces distorting them by acquiring unusual and unique forms.

The frames of such observations are composed of individual exposures captured by the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) of the telescope.