Twin
spiral galaxies begin a slow gravitational embrace, as seen by the astronomers
at the Gemini South telescope in Chile.
The
almost open-faced spiral galaxy on the left (NGC 5427) and the more oblique
galaxy on the right (NGC 5426) appear 90 million light years away in the Virgo
constellation. Known together as Arp 271, their mutual attraction appears to be
growing with two spiral arms connecting them.
The
hot pink dots represent star-forming regions where colliding gas may have
triggered bursts of new stars. Yet the same gravitational forces have also
begun to warp and bend the galaxies out of shape. The pair will eventually
merge into a large elliptical galaxy.
— Gemini Observatory and SPACE.com Staff
Credit: Gemini
Observatory
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