Large Galaxy Caught in the Making

This image shows the radio galaxy MRC 1138-262, nicknamed the “Spiderweb Galaxy”, sitting at the center of an emergent galaxy cluster, surrounded by hundreds of other galaxies from the cluster. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, George Miley and Roderik Overzier (Leiden Observatory, the Netherlands))

Astronomers have long suspected that most large galaxies form at least in part by acquiring smaller galaxies in dramatic cosmic mergers.

New images from the Hubble Space Telescope support that view.

"The new Hubble image is the best demonstration so far that large massive galaxies are built up by merging smaller ones," said study leader George Miley from Leiden Observatory in The Netherlands.

Gallery: Amazing Galaxies: Great Backyard Images
Galactic Merger More Civil than Expected
A Cosmic Storm: When Galaxy Clusters Collide
Strange Setup: Andromeda's Satellite Galaxies All Lined Up

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