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Credit & Copyright: George Williams
Explanation:
This spectacular
intergalactic skyscape features Arp 227,
a curious system of galaxies from the 1966
Atlas of Peculiar
Galaxies.
Some 100 million light-years distant
within the boundaries of the constellation Pisces,
Arp 227 consists of the two galaxies prominent
above and left of center, the
shell galaxy NGC 474
and its blue, spiral-armed neighbor NGC 470.
The readily apparent shells and star streams of
NGC 474
are likely tidal features
originating from the accretion
of another smaller galaxy during close gravitational encounters
that began over a billion years ago.
The large galaxy on the bottom righthand side of the deep image,
NGC 467, appears to be surrounded by faint shells and streams too,
evidence of another
merging galaxy system.
Intriguing background galaxies are scattered around
the field that also includes spiky foreground stars.
Of course, those stars lie well within our own
Milky Way Galaxy.
The telescopic field of view spans 25 arc minutes or just under 1/2 degree
on the sky.
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A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: interacting galaxies
Publications with words: interacting galaxies
See also: