Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Coma Berenices (Com)  ·  Contains:  Mice Galaxy  ·  NGC 4676  ·  PGC 1910087  ·  PGC 1911584  ·  PGC 1914354  ·  PGC 1920627  ·  PGC 43002  ·  PGC 43065  ·  The Mice
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Mice Galaxies Arp 242 NGC4676, Mau_Bard
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Mice Galaxies Arp 242 NGC4676

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Mice Galaxies Arp 242 NGC4676, Mau_Bard
Powered byPixInsight

Mice Galaxies Arp 242 NGC4676

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Description

NGC 4676, or the Mice Galaxies, are two spiral galaxies in the constellation Coma Berenices. About 290 million light-years distant, they have begun the process of colliding and merging. The tidal waves produced by the interaction remind mice tails, hence the nickname. It is a possibility that both galaxies, which are members of the Coma Cluster, will eventually coalesce.
Some structural detail is visible here, including blueish areas of the spiral arms.

In the background are visible extremely remote galaxies. For instance PGC 1914354 is located around 700 Mpc away, corresponding to 2,2 Billion ly.

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