blobrana
01-21-08, 05:49 PM
An image taken with ESO's Very Large Telescope has revealed a triplet of interacting galaxies.
IMAGE (http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/4884/galnteractions5na1.jpg) (21kb, 560 x 378)
Credit ESO
Position(2000): RA. = 22:02:03.13, Dec = -31:58:25.5
The three galaxies, catalogued as NGC 7173 (top), 7174 (bottom right) and 7176 (bottom left), are located 106 million light-years away towards the constellation of Piscis Austrinus (the 'Southern Fish').
NGC 7173 and 7176 are elliptical galaxies, while NGC 7174 is a spiral galaxy with pronounced dust lanes and a long, twisted tail. Astronomers have suggested that the three galaxies will finally merge into a giant 'island universe', tens to hundreds of times as massive as our own Milky Way.
See more (http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2008/phot-02-08.html)
IMAGE (http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/4884/galnteractions5na1.jpg) (21kb, 560 x 378)
Credit ESO
Position(2000): RA. = 22:02:03.13, Dec = -31:58:25.5
The three galaxies, catalogued as NGC 7173 (top), 7174 (bottom right) and 7176 (bottom left), are located 106 million light-years away towards the constellation of Piscis Austrinus (the 'Southern Fish').
NGC 7173 and 7176 are elliptical galaxies, while NGC 7174 is a spiral galaxy with pronounced dust lanes and a long, twisted tail. Astronomers have suggested that the three galaxies will finally merge into a giant 'island universe', tens to hundreds of times as massive as our own Milky Way.
See more (http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2008/phot-02-08.html)