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APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
NGC 1531/2: Interacting Galaxies
Explanation: This dramatic image of an interacting pair of galaxies was made using 8-meter Gemini South telescope at Cerro Pachon , Chile . NGC 1531 is the background galaxy with a bright core just above center and NGC 1532 is the foreground spiral galaxy laced with dust lanes. The pair is about 55 million light-years away in the southern constellation Eridanus . These galaxies lie close enough together so that each feels the influence of the other's gravity . The gravitational tug-of-war has triggered star formation in the foreground spiral as evidenced by the young, bright blue star clusters along the upper edge of the front spiral arm . Though the spiral galaxy in this pair is viewed nearly edge-on, astronomers believe the system is similar to the face-on spiral and companion known as M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy .
| Date | March 1, 2005 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit & Copyright: T. Rector ( U. Alaska Anchorage ), Gemini Obs. , AURA , NSF |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |