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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Спиральные галактики в процессе столкновения http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1168994/eng |
Credit & Copyright: Debra Meloy Elmegreen
(Vassar College)
et al.,
& the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/ STScI/ NASA)
Explanation:
Billions of years from now, only one of these two galaxies will remain.
Until then, spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163 will slowly pull each other apart,
creating tides of matter, sheets of
shocked gas, lanes of
dark dust, bursts of
star formation, and streams of
cast-away stars.
Astronomers predict that NGC 2207, the larger galaxy on the left, will
eventually incorporate IC 2163, the smaller galaxy on the right.
In the most
recent encounter that peaked 40 million years ago,
the smaller galaxy is swinging around counter-clockwise,
and is now slightly behind the larger galaxy.
The space between stars is so vast that when
galaxies collide,
the stars in them
usually do not collide.
& the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/ STScI/ NASA)
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.