DECam Captures Galaxy Feasting on its Companion, a Prelude to Merger (IMAGE)

Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

DECam Captures Galaxy Feasting on its Companion, a Prelude to Merger

Caption

The spiral galaxy NGC 1532, also known as Haley’s Coronet, is caught in a lopsided tug of war with its smaller neighbor, the dwarf galaxy NGC 1531. The image — taken by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Dark Energy Camera mounted on the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab — captures the mutual gravitational influences of a massive- and dwarf-galaxy merger.

Credit

CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA Roberto Colombari, M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)

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