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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 about 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)
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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: