When galaxies collide: bright, bizarre NGC 2623

William Atkins
Wednesday, 14 October 2009 17:59

Science - Space

For additional information and several other images of this “very bright and bizarre galaxy” called NGC 2623, go to the European Space Agency’s Hubble Space Telescope website entitled “Photo Release - heic0912: Sky merger yields sparkling dividends.”

In part, this ESA article describes how galaxies sometimes merge into one galaxy, "Not surprisingly, interacting galaxies have a dramatic effect on each other. Studies have revealed that as galaxies approach one another massive amounts of gas are pulled from each galaxy towards the centre of the other, until ultimately, the two merge into one massive galaxy."

And, "... stretching out from the centre are two tidal tails of young stars showing that a merger has taken place. During such a collision, the dramatic exchange of mass and gases initiates star formation, seen here in both the tails."

Read the article in more detail for further description of the galactic collision.

For your information: galaxies are named NGC, for New General Catalogue, which is a catalog of deep sky objects in asronomy. Over 7,800 objects are called NGCs, or NGC objects.

For additional information on the NGC, go to "The Interactive NGC Catalog Online," which is brought to you by SEDS, or the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space.