Arp 273: Battling Galaxies from Hubble
Explanation:
What's happening to these spiral galaxies?
Although details remain
uncertain, there sure seems to be a titanic battle going on.
The
upper galaxy
is labelled UGC 1810 by itself, but together with its
collisional partners is known as
Arp 273.
The overall shape of the UGC 1810 -- in particular its
blue outer ring --
is likely a result of wild and
violent
gravitational
interactions.
The blue color of the outer ring at the top is caused by massive stars that are
blue hot
and have formed only in the past few million years.
The inner part of the upper galaxy -- itself an older spiral galaxy -- appears redder
and threaded with cool
filamentary dust.
A few bright
stars appear well in the foreground, unrelated to
colliding galaxies, while several far-distant galaxies are visible in the background.
Arp 273 lies about 300 million light years away
toward
the constellation of Andromeda.
Quite likely, UGC 1810 will
devour its
galactic sidekicks over the next billion years and settle into a classic
spiral form.
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.
