Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Virgo (Vir)  ·  Contains:  IC 771  ·  NGC 4206  ·  NGC 4216  ·  NGC 4222
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Tumbling galaxies in Virgo, Wim van Berlo
Tumbling galaxies in Virgo
Powered byPixInsight

Tumbling galaxies in Virgo

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Tumbling galaxies in Virgo, Wim van Berlo
Tumbling galaxies in Virgo
Powered byPixInsight

Tumbling galaxies in Virgo

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

Ngc 4206, 4216, and 4222 are three galaxies in the Virgo cluster. They are located at a distance of approximately 50 - 60 Mly. The most interesting of the three is the one in the middle.

Ngc 4216 is a barred spiral galaxy of type SAB(s)b, and is one of the larger galaxies in the Virgo cluster.

Ngc 4216 forms a pair with the smaller galaxy just above it in this image, VCC 165 (LEDA 39247). The galaxy is subject to ongoing research after it was found to have several tidal star streams. These streams are likely the result of accretion events where satellite galaxies are being drawn into the main galaxy.

What is particularly intruiging is the fact that one of the tidal streams contains three dwarf galaxies, two of which are visible and indicated in the annotated image. It has been speculated that these dwarfs, rather than being absorbed by ngc 4216, may be forming in the tidal stream. (S. Paudel et al., The Astrophysical Journal, 767:133 (11pp), 2013 April 20)

Comments

Revisions

  • Final
    Tumbling galaxies in Virgo, Wim van Berlo
    Original
    Tumbling galaxies in Virgo, Wim van Berlo
    B

B

Description: Annotated superstretched luminance image:
A, B dwarf galaxies in the tidal structure (F) of ngc 4216

Uploaded: ...

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

Tumbling galaxies in Virgo, Wim van Berlo