Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Galaxies in the River

Galaxies in the River: APOD: 2016 February 10 - Galaxies in the River



Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.


2016 February 10


See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.



Galaxies in the River
Image Credit & Copyright: CEDIC Team - Processing: Markus Blauensteiner
Explanation: Large galaxies grow by eating small ones. Even our own galaxy practices galactic cannibalism, absorbing small galaxies that get too close and are captured by the Milky Way's gravity. In fact, the practice is common in the universe and illustrated by this striking pair of interacting galaxies from the banks of the southern constellation Eridanus, The River. Located over 50 million light years away, the large, distorted spiral NGC 1532 is seen locked in a gravitational struggle with dwarf galaxy NGC 1531 (right of center), a struggle the smaller galaxy will eventually lose. Seen edge-on, spiral NGC 1532 spans about 100,000 light-years. Nicely detailed in this sharp image, the NGC 1532/1531 pair is thought to be similar to the well-studied system of face-on spiral and small companion known as M51.

Tomorrow's picture: adventures in spacetime

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