A Galactic Ballet

This image shows a pair of interacting galaxies known as Arp 271. Individually, these galaxies are named NGC 5426 and NGC 5427; both are spirals, and both are roughly the same size.

Some astronomers believe that these galaxies are in the process of merging to form a single entity. This interaction will create increasing numbers of new stars over the next few million years, some of which can be seen within the “bridge” of gas connecting the two galaxies. This kind of collision and interaction might also happen to our own galaxy, the Milky Way, which is likely to collide with the neighbouring Andromeda Galaxy in about five billion years time.

These galaxies lie over 120 million light years away from us, and were discovered by the German-British astronomer William Herschel in 1785. Herschel was a prolific scientist, also discovering both infrared radiation and the planet Uranus.

Link:

Previous release of the same galaxy pair: http://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1035a/

Źródło:

ESO

O zdjęciu

Identyfikator:potw2020a
Typ:Obserwacje
Data publikacji:18 maja 2020 06:00
Rozmiar:1645 x 1439 px

O obiekcie

Nazwa:Arp 271
Typ:Early Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Odległość:120 milion lat świetlnych
Constellation:Virgo
Kategoria:Galaxies

Formaty zdjęć

Wielki JPEG
495,8 KB

Powiększenie


Tapety

1024x768
161,4 KB
1280x1024
274,1 KB
1600x1200
440,0 KB
1920x1200
459,0 KB
2048x1536
609,2 KB

Współrzędne

Pozycja (RA):14 3 24.83
Pozycja (Dec):-6° 3' 37.83"
Pole widzenia:6.91 x 6.05 arcminutes
Orientacja:North is -0.0° lewo of vertical

Kolory i filtry

PasmoDługość faliTeleskop
Optyczny
b
440 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2
Optyczny
g
470 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2
Optyczny
I
768 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2