astronomer using NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope They captured a striking photo of NGC 5427, which is part of the interacting galaxy pair Arp 271.
This Hubble image shows NGC 5427, a spiral galaxy located about 120 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. Image credit: NASA / ESA / R. Foley, University of California, Santa Cruz / Gladys Kober, NASA and The Catholic University of America.
Alp 271 It was originally discovered in 1785 by German-born British astronomer William Herschel.
a pair that interacts consisting of Two spiral galaxies of similar size: NGC5426 and NGC5427.
It is located about 120 million light-years away toward the constellation Virgo, and its extent is about 130,000 light-years.
It is unclear whether the interaction experienced by NGC 5426 and NGC 5427 will end in a collision and ultimately lead to the merger of the two galaxies, or whether the galaxies will simply experience a very close encounter.
It is absolutely certain that they are already interacting with each other, as material has been stripped from galaxies to create bridges of stars and dust that connect them.
In the distant future, our Milky Way galaxy will undergo a similar collision with the Andromeda galaxy, which is currently located about 2.6 million light-years away from the Milky Way.
“NGC 5426 is below NGC 5427 and outside the frame of this image,” Hubble astronomers said.
“However, the gravitational effects of this pair can be seen in the distortion of the galaxy and the cosmic bridge of stars seen in the lower right region of the image.”
“NGC 5426 and NGC 5427 are locked in an interaction lasting tens of millions of years.”
“Whether they will eventually collide and merge is still uncertain, but their mutual attraction has already led to the birth of many new stars.”
“These young stars are visible in the faint bridge connecting the two galaxies at the bottom of the image.”
“Such bridges provide a path for the two galaxies to continue sharing gas and dust that will form new stars.”
“We believe Arp 271 serves as a blueprint for future interactions between the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, which are expected to occur in about 4 billion years.”
Source: www.sci.news
