Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Leo (Leo)  ·  Contains:  NGC 3222  ·  NGC 3226  ·  NGC 3227
Arp 94, Warren A. Keller
Arp 94
Powered byPixInsight
Arp 94, Warren A. Keller
Arp 94
Powered byPixInsight

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

NGC 3227 and NGC 3226 in Leo are a pair of colliding spiral galaxies 50,000,000 light-years distant, which were discovered by John Herschel. Also classified by Halton Arp as Arp 94, The larger face-on galaxy below, NGC 3227, is an unbarred SAB(s) pec(uliar) spiral, while the smaller galaxy above, NGC 3226, is a dwarf elliptical. The interaction between the two galaxies is visible as spectacular loops, arcs, and star streams that are the remnants of an ongoing gravitational dance between the two. Both galaxies' nuclei are considered AGN (active galactic nucleus), while NGC 3227's is a Seyfert-type nucleus, with variable X-ray emission. It also likely contains a supermassive black hole. Several small but fascinating galaxies appear at right, including face-on PGC 30397 at 3 o'clock. This data was acquired by SSRO in 2017 and reprocessed in 2022.

Comments

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

Arp 94, Warren A. Keller