Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Virgo (Vir)  ·  Contains:  NGC 5257  ·  NGC 5258  ·  PGC 1177798
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Arp 240 & Supernova 2020dko, Gary Imm
Arp 240 & Supernova 2020dko, Gary Imm

Arp 240 & Supernova 2020dko

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Arp 240 & Supernova 2020dko, Gary Imm
Arp 240 & Supernova 2020dko, Gary Imm

Arp 240 & Supernova 2020dko

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Description

This object is a pair of small interacting galaxies located 300 million light years away in the constellation of Virgo at a declination of +1 degrees. Each galaxy spans 1.5 arc-minutes in our apparent view, which corresponds to an actual diameter of 130,000 light years.

This object consists of 2 similarly structured spiral galaxies with a stellar bridge connecting them. The typical galaxy colors of a yellow core and blue arms show up well in this image. Portions of the arms appear as bright arcs, likely due to intense star formation kicked off by the gravitational interaction.

Supernova 2020dko is identified on the mouseover. It was discovered on February 25, 2020, and was at magnitude 18 when this image was taken. It is interesting to me that this supernova is located in one of the narrowest sections of the galaxy arms.

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