NGC 1275: A Galactic Collision
Explanation:
In NGC 1275, one galaxy is slicing through another.
The disk of the
dusty
spiral galaxy
near the image center is cutting through a large
elliptical galaxy,
visible predominantly on the lower left.
Galaxies can change significantly during a
collision like this, with
gravitational tides
distorting each galaxy and
gas clouds being
compressed and lighting up with new
star formation.
Galaxy collisions
occur in slow motion to the
human eye, with a single pass taking as much as 100 million years.
NGC 1275 is a member of the
Perseus cluster of galaxies
that lies about 230 million
light years away toward the
constellation of
Perseus.
Each galaxy spans about 50,000 light years across.
The
above picture is a composite of
images taken by the
Hubble Space Telescope in 1995 and 2001.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
