Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have captured a spectacular image of two interacting spiral galaxies: NGC 2798 and NGC 2799.
This Hubble image shows interacting galaxies NGC 2798 (right) and NGC 2799 (left). The color image includes optical and near-infrared observations from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Three filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / SDSS / J. Dalcanton / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.
Collectively called Arp 283, the galaxy duo lies approximately 81 million light-years away in the constellation of Lynx.
It is a member of the Arp catalog of peculiar galaxies observed by the American astronomer Halton Arp in the 1960s.
The interacting pair contains two barred spiral galaxies: NGC 2798 and NGC 2799.
NGC 2798 was discovered on January 14, 1788 by the German-born British astronomer William Herschel.
NGC 2799 was discovered on March 9, 1874 by the British astronomer Ralph Copeland.
“Interacting galaxies, such as these, are so named because of the influence they have on each other, which may eventually result in a merger or a unique formation,” Hubble astronomers explained.
“Already, these two galaxies have seemingly formed a sideways waterspout, with stars from NGC 2799 appearing to fall into NGC 2798 almost like drops of water.”
“Galactic mergers can take place over several hundred million to over a billion years,” they said.
“While one might think the merger of two galaxies would be catastrophic for the stellar systems within, the sheer amount of space between stars means that stellar collisions are unlikely and stars typically drift past each other.”
