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Credit & Copyright: Simone Curzi
and the
ShaRA Team
Explanation:
Spiral galaxy NGC 3169 looks to be unraveling like a ball of cosmic
yarn.
It lies some 70 million light-years away,
south of
bright star Regulus toward the faint constellation Sextans.
Wound up spiral arms are pulled out into sweeping tidal
tails as NGC 3169 (left) and neighboring NGC 3166
interact
gravitationally.
Eventually the galaxies will merge into one,
a common fate even for bright galaxies in
the local universe.
Drawn out stellar arcs and plumes are clear
indications of the ongoing gravitational interactions
across the deep and colorful
galaxy group photo.
The telescopic frame
spans about 20 arc minutes or about 400,000 light-years
at the group's estimated distance, and includes smaller,
bluish NGC 3165 to the right.
NGC 3169 is also known to shine across the spectrum from
radio to X-rays,
harboring
an active galactic nucleus that is the
site of a supermassive black hole.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: interacting galaxies
Publications with words: interacting galaxies
See also:
- Galaxies in the River
- APOD: 2025 August 19 Á Giant Galaxies in Pavo
- APOD: 2025 June 1 Á UGC 1810: Wildly Interacting Galaxy from Hubble
- APOD: 2025 March 12 Á NGC 772: The Fiddlehead Galaxy
- Peculiar Galaxies of Arp 273
- APOD: 2025 January 6 Á Colliding Spiral Galaxies from Webb and Hubble
- Shell Galaxies in Pisces