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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Пекулярные галактики Арп 273 http://www.variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1813746/eng |
Credit & Copyright: Jason Guenzel
Explanation:
The spiky stars
in the foreground of this backyard
telescopic
frame are well within our own
Milky
Way Galaxy.
But the two eye-catching galaxies lie far beyond the Milky Way,
at a distance of over 300 million light-years.
Their distorted appearance is due to gravitational tides
as the pair engage in close encounters.
Cataloged as Arp 273 (also as
UGC 1810), the galaxies do look
peculiar,
but interacting galaxies are now understood to be
common in the universe.
Nearby, the large spiral Andromeda Galaxy is known to be
some 2 million light-years away and approaching the Milky Way.
The peculiar galaxies of Arp 273 may offer an analog of their
far
future encounter.
Repeated galaxy encounters on a
cosmic timescale can ultimately
result in a merger into a single galaxy of stars.
From our perspective, the bright cores of the Arp 273 galaxies are
separated by only a little over 100,000 light-years.
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.