Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Cassiopeia (Cas)
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PGC 3182, Gary Imm
PGC 3182, Gary Imm

PGC 3182

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
PGC 3182, Gary Imm
PGC 3182, Gary Imm

PGC 3182

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Description

You might think that this Astrobin Debut Object, also known as MCG+12-02-001,  is a nebula of some sort.  But it is actually a pair of colliding galaxies located 220 million light years away in the constellation of Cassiopeia at a declination of +73 degrees.  

Each galaxy spans about 1 arc-minute in our apparent view.  This corresponds to a diameter of 60,000 light years.

I have included this object in my GALAXIES - Merger Stage B (Short Bridge) collection.  Like many merging pairs, each galaxy has a star stream plume which extends from the core in a direction opposite to the companion galaxy.

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