# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/BV3bnOCFFJb
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/11735922-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/8a522c8917.jpg
- **Posted:** 2017-06-28T02:15:02.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

What would happen if you took two galaxies and mixed them together over millions of years? A new image including data from our Chandra X-ray Observatory (nasachandraxray) reveals the cosmic outcome.

Arp 299 is a system located about 140 million light years from Earth. It contains two galaxies that are merging, creating a partially blended mix of stars from each galaxy in the process.

However, this stellar mix is not the only ingredient. New data from Chandra reveals 25 bright X-ray sources sprinkled throughout the Arp 299 concoction. Fourteen of these sources are such strong emitters of X-rays that astronomers categorize them as “ultra-luminous X-ray sources,” or ULXs.

These ULXs are found embedded in regions where stars are currently forming at a rapid rate. Most likely, the ULXs are binary systems where a neutron star or black hole is pulling matter away from a companion star that is much more massive than the Sun. These double star systems are called high-mass X-ray binaries.

Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Univ. of Crete/K. Anastasopoulou et al, NASA/NuSTAR/GSFC/A. Ptak et al; Optical: NASA/STScI

#nasa #space #chandra #universe #astrophysics #stars #xray #xrays #mixing #science #astronomy

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## Tags

science, nasa, xrays, xray, universe, space, astrophysics, mixing, chandra, stars, astronomy

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