Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Sextans (Sex)  ·  Contains:  NGC 3165  ·  NGC 3166  ·  NGC 3169
NGC 3166 & NGC 3169, Ronny Kaplanian
NGC 3166 & NGC 3169
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NGC 3166 & NGC 3169, Ronny Kaplanian
NGC 3166 & NGC 3169
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It never ceases to amaze me what is out there, far beyond anything we will ever reach, yet high above the sky in my backyard I can almost capture anything hidden amongst the stars of vast eternity and time. Galaxies are the hardest to capture as they are so far away and dim, but as challenging as they are, I managed to capture these two sister galaxies spiralling towards each other. Almost 70 million light years away, they are so close to each other (Appx 100,000 light years), that each Galaxy is actually distorting the other due to their gravitational influence. Both of these had spiral arms and now are in disarray. If you notice the one on the left is more bluish and hence a more active Galaxy with star formation where the other is a much more dormant settled type. In time these will merge into one Super massive galaxy.

Look closely and you might see a pair of eyes looking back at you, spooky yet intensely mesmerising and awe fascinating.

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NGC 3166 & NGC 3169, Ronny Kaplanian