H/T Lana Duze V for Vendetta? Hubble Captures Extraordinary Galactic Collision/ This large ‚flying V‚ is actually two distinct objects, a pair of interacting galaxies known as IC 2184. In fact, its still two galaxies, captured in the middle of a collision that will result in a completely new galactic shape a few million years from now. Those bursts of bright blue are the regions that are already crashing. Yes, the Universe is not a very welcoming place. Both the galaxies are seen almost edge-on in the large, faint northern constellation of Camelopardalis (The Giraffe), and can be seen as bright streaks of light surrounded by the ghostly shapes of their tidal tails. IC 2184 is an interacting pair of galaxies, looking like a large ‚Äúflying V‚Äù, located some 162 million light-years away from Earth in the faint northern constellation of Camelopardalis (The Giraffe). The pair is receding from us at about 3604 kilometers per second. Both galaxies are probably barred spirals seen almost edge-on. The individual components are about 40 and 45 thousand light-years across, and the system is about 65 thousand light-years across. They can be seen as bright streaks of light surrounded by the ghostly shapes of their tidal tails. These tidal tails are thin, elongated streams of gas, dust and stars that extend away from the galaxies into space. They occur when galaxies gravitationally interact with one another, and material is sheared from the outer edges of each body and flung out into space in opposite directions, forming two tails. They almost always appear curved, so when they are seen to be relatively straight, as in this image, it is clear that we are viewing the galaxies side-on.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 18:21:26 +0000
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