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Explanation: A ground-based telescopic view (left) of the collision between the galaxies NGC4038 and NGC4039 reveals long arcing insect-like "antennae" of luminous matter flung from the scene of the accident. Investigators using the Hubble Space Telescope to sift through the cosmic wreckage near the two galaxy cores have recently announced the discovery of over a thousand bright young clusters of stars - the result of a burst of star formation triggered by the collision. The green outline shows the area covered by the higher resolution Hubble image (right). At the distance of the Antennae galaxies (about 63 million light-years), a pixel in this image corresponds to about 15 light-years. Dust clouds around the two galactic nuclei give them a dimmed and reddened appearance while the massive, hot, young stars of the newly formed clusters are blue. How do colliding galaxies evolve with time? Determining the ages of star clusters formed in galaxy collisions can provide significant clues. The Antennae galaxies are seen in the southerly constellation Corvus.
Tomorrow's picture: Echoes Of A Supernova
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: star cluster - colliding galaxies
Publications with words: star cluster - colliding galaxies
See also:
- APOD: 2024 January 15 Á Star Cluster IC 348 from Webb
- APOD: 2023 December 10 Á Big Dipper over Pyramid Mountain
- APOD: 2023 September 25 Á Arp 142: The Hummingbird Galaxy
- APOD: 2023 January 23 Á The Colliding Spiral Galaxies of Arp 274
- Galaxy Wars: M81 and M82
- Young Star Cluster NGC 346
- NGC 1316: After Galaxies Collide