"Discovery: Hubble Observes Newborn Stars in Galactic Tidal Tails"

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured images of 12 interacting galaxies with long "tidal tails" studded with young star clusters, resembling cosmic "strings of pearls." These tails are formed when the gravitational forces of interacting galaxies pull out their spiral arms, igniting intense star formation. Astronomers have identified 425 massive star clusters in these tails, each containing about a million young stars emitting ultraviolet light. The findings shed light on cluster formation efficiency and raise questions about the future of these modern clusters, which resemble ancient globular clusters in the Milky Way.