This
Astrobin Debut Object is a pair of interacting galaxies located 200 million light years away in the constellation of Cetus at a declination of -5 degrees. In his
Arp catalog, Dr. Arp classified this object into the category of Elliptical and Elliptical-like Galaxies Close to and Perturbing Spirals.
The edge-on spiral galaxy is LEDA 3547. This magnitude 15 object spans 2 arc-minutes in our apparent view, which corresponds to a Milky Way size diameter of 120,000 light years.
The elliptical galaxy is LEDA 3553. This magnitude 16 object is half as large as its companion, with a diameter of 60,000 light years.
I love the star plumes surrounding these 2 galaxies, leaving little doubt that they are interacting. The plume extends from the lower left to the upper right.
My favorite part of the image is the lovely disturbed disk of the edge-on spiral, outlining not one but two sine wave shapes. The mid-line dust lane varies in thickness along its length and is highlighted by a subtle blue star cluster or star cloud, seen on the right side slightly above the dust lane. The spiral core is slightly offset to the left.
In contrast to the spiral, the elliptical galaxy appears fairly undisturbed.
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