New images from the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, provide the clearest view yet of a striking pair of interacting spiral galaxies, cataloged as NGC 7253.
This image of NGC 7253 was taken by the Gemini North Telescope on Mauna Kea, half of the International Gemini Observatory. Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. Miller & M. Rodriguez, International Gemini Observatory & NSF’s NOIRLab / TA Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NSF’s NOIRLab / D. de Martin & M. Zamani, NSF’s NOIRLab.
NGC 7253 It is located more than 200 million light years away in the constellation Pegasus.
The system is discovered It was discovered on September 9, 1863 by German-British astronomer Albert Mars.
It consists of two relatively small-looking spiral galaxies located approximately 4 million light-years apart.
The northern member is commonly referred to as NGC 7253A and the southern member as NGC 7253B.
They are so close that their mutual gravity disturbs their structure, creating a system so unusual that it is listed in Halton Earp’s Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies: Alp 278.
The new images of NGC 7253 were taken by the Gemini North Telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, funded in part by NSF and operated by NSF’s NOIRLab.
This photo was produced as part of the NOIRLab Legacy Imaging Program. This program is an initiative that specifically dedicates telescope time to taking detailed color images of celestial objects for the public.
“NGC 7253 is a fascinating object because it is two galaxies merging into one over billions of years,” said NOIRLab intern Raiyan Rahman.
“But we primarily chose this object because it is one of the few that actually exists in the Hawaiian constellation, Ka Lupe O Kawelo.”
“After spending so much time on Mauna Kea, it was important to us to choose something that was both culturally and astronomically significant.”
The image shows two similar-sized spirals, their slender arms stretching and distorting under the mutual pull of gravity as the galaxies slowly spiral toward a merger that unfolds over billions of years.
Clusters of bright pink light are scattered throughout the frame, indicating regions where hydrogen gas has been ionized by intense radiation from the newly formed star.
Such fireworks are typical of galactic collisions. As the two star systems approach, the clouds of gas and dust in the spiral arms collide and become compressed, causing an explosion of star formation.
The young, hot stars born in this process fill the surrounding gas with radiation intense enough to strip electrons from hydrogen atoms, producing the glowing pink clouds (known to astronomers as HII regions) that weave between the arms of the galaxy in the image.
“Stars are a source of life and health for us humans, because our sun is a star and we cannot live without it,” said NOIRLab intern Manu Silva-Sampaio.
Source: www.sci.news
