VLT looks into the eyes of the Virgin

This striking image, taken with the FORS2 instrument on the Very Large Telescope, shows a beautiful yet peculiar pair of galaxies, NGC 4438 and NGC 4435, nicknamed The Eyes. The larger of these, at the top of the picture, NGC 4438, is thought to have once been a spiral galaxy that was strongly deformed by collisions in the relatively recent past. The two galaxies belong to the Virgo Cluster and are about 50 million light-years away.

Credit:

ESO

About the Image

Id:eso1131a
Type:Observation
Release date:24 August 2011, 12:00
Related releases:eso1131
Size:1781 x 1499 px

About the Object

Name:Eyes Galaxies, NGC 4435, NGC 4438
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Distance:50 million light years
Constellation:Virgo
Category:Galaxies

Mounted Image

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Coordinates

Position (RA):12 27 45.67
Position (Dec):13° 0' 31.02"
Field of view:7.48 x 6.30 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 120.0° right of vertical

Colours & filters

BandTelescope
Optical
V
Very Large Telescope
FORS2

Pseudogreen (V+R)
Very Large Telescope
FORS2
Optical
R
Very Large Telescope
FORS2