NGC 7727’s spectacular galactic dance as seen by the VLT

The galaxy NGC 7727 was born from the merger of two galaxies that started around a billion years ago. The cosmic dance of the two galaxies has resulted in the spectacular wispy shape of NGC 7727. At the heart of the galaxy, two supermassive black holes are spiralling closer to each other, expected to merge within 250 million years, the blink of an eye in astronomical time. This image of NGC 7727 was captured by the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2) instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). 

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:eso2211a
Type:Observation
Release date:16 August 2022, 14:00
Related releases:eso2211
Size:1724 x 1714 px

About the Object

Name:NGC 7727
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Distance:90 million light years
Constellation:Aquarius
Category:Galaxies

Image Formats

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Coordinates

Position (RA):23 39 54.22
Position (Dec):-12° 17' 32.98"
Field of view:7.24 x 7.19 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 0.3° left of vertical

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Optical
B
440 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2
Optical
V
557 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2
Optical
R
655 nmVery Large Telescope
FORS2