NGC 1316: After Galaxies Collide
Explanation:
An example of violence on a cosmic scale, enormous
elliptical galaxy NGC 1316 lies about 75 million light-years away
toward Fornax,
the southern constellation of the Furnace.
Investigating
the startling sight, astronomers suspect the giant
galaxy of colliding with smaller neighbor NGC 1317 seen just
above, causing far flung loops and shells of stars.
Light from their close encounter would
have
reached Earth some 100 million years ago.
In
the deep, sharp image, the central regions of NGC 1316 and NGC 1317
appear separated by over 100,000 light-years.
Complex dust lanes visible within also indicate that NGC 1316
is itself the result of a merger of galaxies in the distant past.
Found on the outskirts of the
Fornax
galaxy cluster, NGC 1316 is known as Fornax A.
One of the visually brightest of the Fornax cluster galaxies it is one
of the strongest and
largest radio sources with radio emission
extending well beyond this telescopic field-of-view, over several
degrees on the sky.
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Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
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NASA Official: Jay Norris.
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rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
