Far, far away in some remote corner of the universe lies Arp 148, famously and more commonly known as Mayall's Object. Arp 148 is a pair of colliding galaxies about 500 million light years away! One of the colliding galaxies has passed right through the centre of the other and is seen erupting from the other side.
There is a superb Hubble image of the pair here:
http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/images/hs-2008-16-aa-large_web.jpgAnd this is what the HST press report has to say about Arp 148:
"Arp 148 is the staggering aftermath of an encounter between two galaxies, resulting in a ring-shaped galaxy and a long-tailed companion. The collision between the two parent galaxies produced a shockwave effect that first drew matter into the center and then caused it to propagate outwards in a ring. The elongated companion perpendicular to the ring suggests that Arp 148 is a unique snapshot of an ongoing collision. Infrared observations reveal a strong obscuration region that appears as a dark dust lane across the nucleus in optical light. Arp 148 is nicknamed Mayall's object and is located in the constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, approximately 500 million light-years away. This interacting pair of galaxies is included in Arp's catalog of peculiar galaxies as number 148."
My image,
does not show quite the detail of the Hubble image - you can just about make out that there are 2 galaxies in there but I'd always wanted to have a go at finding and imaging this tiny, faint gem, so I'm quite pleased with it. 91mins worth of 2 and 3 minute exposures make up this image. Taken on 12th and 13th May when Arp 148 was only 44degrees above the horizon, which is as low as I can ever realistically image. The high pressure at the time was not providing good clarity so maybe this is one to repeat again next year.
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