Galaxies IC 2163 and NGC 2207 (Webb and Hubble Image)

Extended Description

Two face-on spiral galaxies take up almost the entire view, both set against the black background of space. At first glance, their bright cores, and red and blue spiral arms make the galaxies look like a colorful masquerade mask that sits above the nose. The galaxy at left, IC 2163, is smaller than the galaxy at right, taking up a little over a quarter of the view. The galaxy at right, NGC 2207, takes up half the view, with edges of its spiral arms reaching the bottom, right, and top of the frame. The two galaxies overlap at the center of the frame, with the smaller IC 2163 behind the larger NGC 2207.

IC 2163

IC 2163 has a bright orange core, with the light so dense at the very center that it appears almost yellow. From this central yellow point, dust lanes wind their way out. One prominent red and pink arm with flecks of blue stars starts around 1 o’clock and winds clockwise. It’s round where it loops around the bottom of the galaxy, and ends in a long, arced line toward the upper left corner. The spiral arm is very bright, almost white, from about 5 o’clock to 8 o’clock. Many other thinner and shorter dust lanes and star clusters fill in the area between the larger spiral arm’s edge and the galaxy’s core, like the ribs of a fan. Another prominent spiral arm starts at near 7 o’clock, winds tightly clockwise around the top of the galaxy’s core, and then lengthens out above the galaxy, behind the neighboring NGC 2207, ending in a long arc. The overlap makes it difficult to differentiate this arm from the larger galaxy. The top of this spiral arm, from 9 to 1 o’clock, also appears very bright, almost white. These bright areas form the eyelids of IC 2163.

NGC 2207

At right, NGC 2207, has a very bright core, but it is whiter and has less dust, so it appears clearer and is larger. The white core is surrounded by a white ring made from a haze of stars. Thin red dust lanes are close to the core, spinning counter clockwise. This galaxy also has two large spiral arms. These spiral arms are made of red dust that surrounds circular or oval-shaped cavities filled with young blue star clusters. An arm begins at the core, around 6 o’clock, spinning around in a wider, slightly oval shape before it completes its first full loop around the core. This arm meets the top spiral arm of IC 2163, continues to travel toward the bottom, and fans out to meet other pink arms and areas of blue star clusters. What looks like two shorter arms are to the left of this lower area, closer to IC 2163, both pointing down in a mix of pinks and blues. The large arm continues winding around the galaxy, ending at the 3 o’clock position. Another prominent spiral arm begins at the galaxy’s core near 11 o’clock, winding tightly counter clockwise around the core, maintaining a tighter, but loose circle near the core. It lengthens out a bit after that, winding toward the top again, with a wide lane of pink and blue. When it winds around to meet IC 2163 at its left, its ragged red arm covers part of the core of the smaller galaxy, ending just below it in a more transparent red. There are many more significant areas of blue star clusters throughout this galaxy overall.

Background

The top and bottom right edges show the black background of space. Larger areas of deep space are at left. The foreground is dotted with several stars, one at top left, two toward the top right, and one at bottom right, all with four prominent diffraction spikes. Extremely distant galaxies appear in the background, and are most often smaller smudges of orange and red. Several stars and galaxies also dot NGC 2207 at right.

Image Alt Text

Two spiral galaxies take up almost the entire view and appear to be overlapping. The galaxy at left, IC 2163, is smaller and more compact than the galaxy at right, NGC 2207. The black background of space is dotted with foreground stars and extremely distant galaxies.