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Credit & Copyright: NASA,
ESA, Hubble;
Processing & Copyright:
William Ostling
(The Astronomy Enthusiast)
Explanation:
These two mighty galaxies are pulling each other apart.
Known as the "Mice"
because they have such long tails, each
spiral galaxy
has likely already passed through the other.
The long
tails are created by the relative
difference between gravitational pulls
on the near and far parts of each
galaxy.
Because the distances are so large, the
cosmic
interaction takes place in slow motion --
over hundreds of millions of years.
NGC 4676 lies about 300 million
light-years away toward the constellation of Bernice's Hair
(Coma Berenices) and are
likely members
of the Coma Cluster of Galaxies.
The featured picture was taken with the
Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys in 2002.
These galactic mice will probably
collide again and again
over the next billion years so that,
instead of continuing to pull each other apart, they
coalesce
to
form a single galaxy.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: colliding galaxies - NGC 4676
Publications with words: colliding galaxies - NGC 4676
See also:
- APOD: 2024 July 30 Á Arp 142: Interacting Galaxies from Webb
- APOD: 2023 September 25 Á Arp 142: The Hummingbird Galaxy
- APOD: 2023 January 23 Á The Colliding Spiral Galaxies of Arp 274
- Galaxy Wars: M81 and M82
- NGC 1316: After Galaxies Collide
- NGC 520: Colliding Galaxies from Hubble
- Central NGC 1316: After Galaxies Collide