A cosmic embrace
In this image, two spiral galaxies, similar in looks to the Milky Way, are participating in a cosmic ballet, which, in a few billion years, will end up in a complete galactic merger — the two galaxies will become a single, bigger one.
Located about 150 million light-years away in the constellation of Canis Major (the Great Dog), NGC 2207 — the larger of the two — and its companion, IC 2163, form a magnificent pair. English astronomer John Herschel discovered them in 1835.
The fatal gravitational attraction of NGC 2207 is already wreaking havoc throughout its smaller partner, distorting IC 2163’s shape and flinging out stars and gas into long streamers that extend over 100,000 light-years. The space between the individual stars in a galaxy is so vast, however, that when these galaxies collide, virtually none of the stars in them will actually physically smash into each other.
This image was captured with the ESO Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera (EFOSC2) through three wide band filters (B, V, R). EFOSC2 has a 4.1 x 4.1 arcminute field of view and is attached to the 3.6-metre telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile.
ESO
Over de afbeelding
Id: | ngc2207 |
Type: | Observatie |
Publicatiedatum: | 3 december 2009 23:18 |
Grootte: | 1995 x 2005 px |
Over het object
Naam: | IC 2163, NGC 2207 |
Type: | Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral |
Afstand: | 150 miljoen lichtjaren |
Constellation: | Canis Major |
Categorie: | Galaxies |
Achtergrond
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 6 16 22.14 |
Position (Dec): | -21° 22' 23.25" |
Field of view: | 5.23 x 5.26 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 1.8° right of vertical |
Kleuren & filters
Band | Golflengte | Telescoop |
---|---|---|
Optisch B | 440 nm | ESO 3.6-metre telescope EFOSC2 |
Optisch V | 547 nm | ESO 3.6-metre telescope EFOSC2 |
Optisch R | 643 nm | ESO 3.6-metre telescope EFOSC2 |