A new image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope provides a detailed look at the galaxy pair Arp 86.
This composite image shows two interacting galaxies NGC 7752 and NGC 7753, collectively known as Arp 86. The image is composed of infrared, optical and ultraviolet observations from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the Victor M. Blanco 4-m Telescope, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Nine 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 / Dark Energy Survey / J. Dalcanton.
Arp 86 is located approximately 217 million light-years away in the constellation of Pegasus.
The system is composed of two galaxies: a barred spiral galaxy called NGC 7752 and a barred lenticular galaxy called NGC 7753.
NGC 7752 is much smaller than NGC 7753 and is apparently attached to one of NGC 7753’s spiral arms.
“The gravitational squabble between the two galaxies is doomed to end catastrophically for NGC 7752,” Hubble astronomers said.
“It will eventually either be flung out into intergalactic space or be entirely engulfed by its far larger neighbor.”
The astronomers used Hubble to observe the Arp 86 system as part of a larger effort to understand the connections between young stars and the clouds of cold gas in which they form.
“Hubble gazed into star clusters and clouds of gas and dust in a variety of environments dotted throughout nearby galaxies,” they said.
“Combined with measurements from ALMA, these Hubble observations provide a treasure trove of data for astronomers working to understand how stars are born.”
“These observations also helped sow the seeds of future research with an upcoming space telescope, the NASA/ESA James Webb Space Telescope,” they added.
“This telescope, due to launch later this year, will study star formation in dusty regions such as the galaxies of Arp 86.”
