It is well noted due to its strong gravitational lensing effect, measurements of which show the galaxy to be one of the most massive in the known universe.

This interacting galaxy was found 1.4 billion light years away in the center of Abell 3827.

Its unusual shape has led to the conclusion that each one of the nuclei was formed from multiple collisions of smaller galaxies, and now the nuclei are merging to form a single huge elliptical galaxy.

Gravitational lensing calculations appeared to show that there is a large dark matter mass lagging the top left nucleus, possibly explained by it being self-interacting dark matter.

Using Einstein's theory of general relativity, it was measured to be approximately 27 ± 4 trillion solar masses, making it one of the most massive galaxies in the known universe.