【▲ Interacting Galaxy “Arp 143” (Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, and J. Dalcanton (Center for Computational Astrophysics/Flatiron Inst., UWashington))]
Here are two galaxies about 191 million light-years away in the direction of “Lynx”「NGC 2444」When「NGC 2445」The appearance of. NGC 2444 is on the left and NGC 2445 is on the right. In the catalog “Arp Atlas” of peculiar galaxies (galaxies with peculiar morphology) compiled by astronomer Halton Arp in 1966, the two are combined.「Arp 143」It is recorded as.
NGC 2444 and NGC 2445 influence each other via gravityinteracting galaxyIt has been with.Gas and stars are drawn from NGC 2445 on the right toward NGC 2444 on the left, as ifThe glow of the blue stars draws a huge triangleLooks like. The stars, which are structured to connect two galaxies, are estimated to be 50 to 100 million years old and are being left behind between the slowly moving galaxies.
NGC 2445Blue glowteeth,Young stellar object with high surface temperatureShows that there are many.NGC 2445 that produced these starsStarburst(Phenomenon that many large-mass stars are born in a short period of time) is with NGC 2444.InteractionIt is believed that it was caused by.
On the other hand, NGC 2444 isRed shadeteethOld starsIndicates that there are many. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), NGC 2444 was before the interaction with NGC 2445 began.I ran out of gas that was the material for the starsIs believed to be.
Also, in the central part of NGC 2445 on the right side,Dark filament of gas(Filament structure) is visible. Near the center of NGC 2445, according to ESA, there are young stars that are between 1 and less than 2 million years old. Dust from these stars covers the center of the galaxy and“Hubble”By space telescope etc.visible lightIt is said that it makes observation in.
New space telescope preparing for the start of scientific observation in the summer of 2022“James Webb”Can see the other side of the dustInfraredIt is said that it is possible to observe young star clusters near the center of a galaxy such as NGC 2445, which cannot be captured by visible light. With the success of Hubble and WebbUnderstanding star formationIs expected to deepen further.
The image at the beginning is of the Hubble Space Telescope“Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3)”and“High Performance Camera for Surveys (ACS)”It was created from images taken through four different filters using the, and was released on February 22, 2022.
Source
- Image Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, and J. Dalcanton (Center for Computational Astrophysics/Flatiron Inst., UWashington)
- ESA/Hubble – Hubble Looks at a ‘Space Triangle’ Spawned by a Galaxy Collision
- STScI – Galaxy Collision Creates ‘Space Triangle’ in New Hubble Image
Sentence / Takehiro Matsumura