This striking image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope showcases Arp
298, a stunning pair of interacting galaxies. Arp 298 – which comprises the two
galaxies NGC 7469 and IC 5283 – lies roughly 200 million light-years from Earth
in the constellation Pegasus. The larger of the two galaxies pictured here is
the barred spiral galaxy NGC 7469, and IC 5283 is its diminutive
companion. NGC 7469 is also host to an active, supermassive black
hole and a bright ring of star clusters.
The “Arp” in this galaxy pair’s name signifies that they are listed in the
Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies compiled by the astronomer Halton Arp. The Atlas of
Peculiar Galaxies is a gallery of weird and wonderful galaxies containing
peculiar structures, featuring galaxies exhibiting everything from segmented
spiral arms to concentric rings. This interacting galaxy pair is a familiar
sight for Hubble – a portrait of the merging galaxies in Arp 298 was
published in 2008.
This image of Arp 298, which also contains several background galaxies,
contains data from three separate Hubble observing proposals. By combining
observations from three proposals, Arp 298 is captured in glorious detail in
seven different filters from two of Hubble’s instruments – the Wide Field
Camera 3 and the Advanced Camera for Surveys.
This system will be one of the
first galaxies observed with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space
Telescope as part of the Director's Discretionary Early Release Science
Programs in Summer 2022.
Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Evans, R. Chandar
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/hubble-peers-at-peculiar-pair-of-galaxies
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