Technologies

NASA’s Hubble Captures Breathtaking Image of Intergalactic Bridge

An ethereal connection between two distant galaxies looks like it belongs in an episode of Star Trek.

Between black holes devouring smallish stars and vacant space surrounding busy, bursting nebulas, caverns of darkness in our universe are often relieved by glimmers of light. Such poetic juxtaposition is starkly apparent in one of NASA’s latest Hubble Space Telescope images.

Last week, the agency released an ethereal view of galactic triplet Arp 248, also known as Wild’s Triplet for both the discoverer and the utterly extravagant nature of the spectacle itself. Behold.

In this impeccable photo, two of three galaxies can be seen in the foreground of space’s void, bleeding into each other like they’re made of over-hydrated watercolor paint and forming what I can only describe as an intergalactic bridge. A third, unconnected realm stands in the far ground, enshrouded by deceptively tiny sparkles that represent a cosmic lifetime of even more galaxies scattered across the universe.

What’s especially mind-numbing about this image is that from Hubble’s vantage point — in Earth’s orbit, some 200 million light-years away — the three galaxies are compact enough to fit on our computer screens.

In reality, these worlds are many (many) light-years wide, holding an incomprehensible amount of doppelgangers to our sun, exoplanets like our solar system’s eight, and moons akin to our glowing lunar companion.

They are miniature universes in themselves, existing on a scale simply unfathomable to the human mind yet available for us to download as desktop wallpapers.

It is, in fact, because of those hefty contents that the two massive spirals at the centerpiece of this image are linked by a luminous bridge in the first place. Both harness immensely strong gravitational forces and are therefore pulling on each other like they’re playing a gentle tug of war, accidentally creating what’s known as a tidal tail, or an elongated stream of stars and iridescent interstellar dust.

Tidal tails are usually the product of galaxies treading very close to one another while on a path toward merging into one huge galaxy. We’ve seen the breathtaking phenomena several times already — tidal tails are responsible for some adorable galaxy systems names, too.

«The Mice,» or NGC 4676, boasts merging galaxies about 300 million light-years away from Earth, and «The Tadpole,» or UGC 10214, contains a large galaxy in the process of shredding a smaller galaxy, another event type that resulted in an awesome tidal tail.

Even our Milky Way galaxy is currently on a collision course with Andromeda, meaning they may eventually generate some sort of intergalactic bridge too — but don’t worry.

The emptiness between stars and planets within galaxies is far greater than you might think.

When galaxies merge, it’s quite likely only a few actual collisions happen. Think about two large crowds entering a stadium, merging into one massive crowd. Most of the time, individuals wouldn’t literally bump into each other. They just settle near each other. Now imagine the same situation, except with about a light-year of space between every person.

Fasincatingly, the title «Arp» in Arp 248 comes from the surname of late astronomer Halton Arp, who, along with astronomer Barry Madore, created the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies in 1966.

«Each collection contains a menagerie of spectacularly peculiar galaxies, including interacting galaxies such as Arp 248, as well as one- or three-armed spiral galaxies, galaxies with shell-like structures, and a variety of other space oddities,» NASA said of the atlas.

It’s a vast work filled with yet more examples of our wonderfully contrasted universe, an expanse built from the mind of a poet and condensed with the skill of a machine.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 24, #897

Today’s Connections puzzle is kind of tough. Here are hints, answers and help for Nov. 24, #897.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. The purple category once again wants you to find hidden words inside other words. If you need help sorting the words into groups, you’re in the right place. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Like an air fryer.

Green group hint: In your vehicle.

Blue group hint: Take out your laptops, dump out your water.

Purple group hint: Like a rainbow.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Small kitchen appliances.

Green group: Features of a car’s center console.

Blue group: Seen while going through airport security.

Purple group: Ending in colors.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is small kitchen appliances. The four answers are blender, microwave, rice cooker and toaster.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is features of a car’s center console. The four answers are air conditioner, cup holder, radio and shifter.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is seen while going through airport security. The four answers are bin, carry-on, metal detector and X-ray.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ending in colors. The four answers are infrared, marigold, stingray and ultraviolet.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Toughest Connections puzzles

We’ve made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles so far. Maybe they’ll help you see patterns in future puzzles.

#5: Included «things you can set,» such as mood, record, table and volleyball.

#4: Included «one in a dozen,» such as egg, juror, month and rose.

#3: Included «streets on screen,» such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.

#2: Included «power ___» such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.

#1: Included «things that can run,» such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Nov. 24, #427

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Nov. 24, No. 427.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Music lovers, today’s Connections: Sports Edition has a fun green category for you. You’ll recognize some familiar phrases in the grid, I think. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Not long pants.

Green group hint: Sing out.

Blue group hint: Gridiron guys who share a name.

Purple group hint: Like a law.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Types of shorts.

Green group: Popular arena/stadium songs.

Blue group: Football Drews.

Purple group: ____ rule.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is types of shorts. The four answers are basketball, bike, compression and gym.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is popular arena/stadium songs. The four answers are Eye of the Tiger, Jump Around, Sandstorm and Thunderstruck.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is football Drews. The four answers are Bledsoe, Brees, Lock and Pearson.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ rule. The four answers are infield fly, mercy, tuck and unwritten.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Monday, Nov. 24

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Nov. 24.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Two down might be my favorite clue, and answer, this puzzle has ever offered. Read on for all of the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.