This image captures 2 objects located in the constellation of Vela at a declination of -44 degrees. The object to the lower right is NGC 3256 while the object to the upper left is ESO 263-41.
NGC 3256 is a magnitude 11.3 galaxy spanning 1.5 arc-minutes in our apparent view, which corresponds to a diameter of 50,000 light years. This object appears to be 2 galaxies in the late stage of a merger. It resembles another merging galaxy I recently posted,
MCG+08-11-002. Here, scientists have confirmed the merger hypothesis through infrared observations which confirm two different dust components which differ in size and temperature.
The Hubble image in the mouseover shows the merging galaxies much more clearly. The amount of detail here in my image is poor because of the low declination.
ESO 263-41 is another odd looking object. It appears to be a faint face-on spiral galaxy. It spans 1 arc-minute in our apparent view and has a diameter of 40,000 light years.
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