The Galactic War in Stephan's Quintet

Stephans Quintet (shown above) is a group of 5 galaxies and a supermassive black hole pulling them all together. Although the black hole is not visible, the 5 galaxies feel its gravity continuously. We see a raging war between the gravity of the galaxies and the gravity of the black hole. However, we cannot see the weapons, only the weapons' effects. Some of the galaxies have spiraling pieces of stars all around them, yet some do not. The spiraling arms are the results of the other galaxies' gravitational attacks. The ones that are "stronger" will be able to resist the pull of the others for the longest, but they will eventually all form one massive galaxy in more than a billion years. A billion years may seem like a long time, but in reality, on the galactic time scale, this is a minuscule fraction of a second. James Webb's image of the galaxies will allow us to better understand the war at place here as well as the effects of gravitation of galaxies much farther in the distant universe. By studying the movements of these galaxies, we can understand how gravity affects other distant objects in the universe. Until the human race becomes extinct, we will have the ability to watch this galactic war take place, yet it will look like almost nothing has happened.

All Image Credit Goes to NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI