Arp 273, a Rose Made of Galaxies, Ruben Barbosa

Arp 273, a Rose Made of Galaxies

Arp 273, a Rose Made of Galaxies, Ruben Barbosa

Arp 273, a Rose Made of Galaxies

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Description

* Acquisition: NASA/ESA/HLA.

* Processing: Ruben Barbosa.

* Distance: 300 Mly.

Arp 273 is a pair of interacting galaxies, lying 300 million light years away in the constellation Andromeda.

The larger of the spiral galaxies, known as UGC 1810, is about five times more massive than the smaller galaxy. Were we can see:

• It has a disc that is tidally distorted into a rose-like shape by the gravitational pull of the companion galaxy below it, known as UGC 1813;

• at the top there is a blue band consisting of clusters of young stars; the lower outer arm has an annular form which indicates that it has been crossed by the smaller galaxy;

• to the right, we can see a third galaxy with an upper outer part formed by many young and blue stars.

The smaller galaxy shows distinct signs of active star formation at its nucleus, a consequence of the gravitational interaction that manifests ever earlier in the smaller galaxy.

Its nuclei are separated by 100,000 light-years, a distance similar to the diameter of our galaxy.

When the Andromeda galaxy meets the Milky Way, a galactic rose may also form.

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Arp 273, a Rose Made of Galaxies, Ruben Barbosa

In these collections

2. Galaxies