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Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson, Stan Watson Obs.
Explanation:
Is there a bridge of gas connecting these two great galaxies?
Quite possibly, but it is hard to be sure.
M86 on the upper left is a giant
elliptical galaxy near the center of the nearby
Virgo Cluster of galaxies.
Our Milky Way Galaxy is
falling toward the Virgo Cluster,
located about 50 million
light years away.
To the lower right of
M86
is unusual spiral galaxy NGC 4438, which,
together with angular neighbor NGC 4435, are known as the
Eyes Galaxies
(also Arp 120).
Featured here is one of the deeper images yet taken of the region,
indicating that red-glowing gas surrounds M86 and
seemingly connects it to NGC 4438.
The image spans about the size of the full moon.
It is also known, however, that
cirrus gas in our
own Galaxy is
superposed in front of the
Virgo cluster,
and observations of the low speed of this gas
seem more consistent with this Milky Way origin hypothesis.
A definitive answer may come from
future research, which may also
resolve how the extended blue arms of NGC 4435 were created.
Open Science:
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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: Virgo Cluster
Publications with words: Virgo Cluster
See also: