Cosmic interactions

Colour-composite image of the triplet of galaxies, catalogued as NGC 7173 (top), 7174 (bottom right) and 7176 (bottom left), and located 106 million light-years away towards the constellation of Piscis Austrinus (the 'Southern Fish'). This triplet of galaxies makes up part of the Hickson Compact Group HCG 90. 

NGC 7173 and 7176 are elliptical galaxies, while NGC 7174 is a spiral galaxy with quite disturbed dust lanes and a long, twisted tail. This seems to indicate that the two lower galaxies - whose combined shape bears some resemblance to that of a sleeping baby - are currently interacting. Astronomers have suggested that the three galaxies will finally merge. 

The size of the image is about 5.3 arcminutes. The image is based on data obtained with the VLT FORS1 instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope through three different filters, B, V, and R. The data were extracted from the ESO Science Archive and fully processed by Henri Boffin (ESO). 

Crediti:

ESO

A proposito dell'immagine

Identificazione:eso0802a
Tipo:Osservazione
Data di pubblicazione:21 Gennaio 2008
Notizie relative:eso0802
Dimensione:1930 x 1659 px

A proposito delll'oggetto

Nome:NGC 7173, NGC 7174, NGC 7176
Tipo:Early Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Distanza:110 Milione Anni luce
Constellation:Piscis Austrinus
Categoria:Galaxies

Formati delle immagini

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Coordinate

Position (RA):22 2 6.85
Position (Dec):-31° 59' 36.71"
Field of view:6.44 x 5.54 arcminutes
Orientazione:Il Nord è a 0.0° a sinistra della verticale

Colori e filtri

BandaTelescopio
Ottico
B
Very Large Telescope
FORS1
Ottico
V
Very Large Telescope
FORS1
Ottico
R
Very Large Telescope
FORS1