Galaxy NGC 7252, "Atoms For Peace"
This image shows the results of a vast collision between two galaxies. This strange object is spiral galaxy NGC 7252, or Arp 226. In December 1953, the US President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave a speech advocating the use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes. The "Atoms for Peace" speech was significant for the scientific community, as it brought nuclear research into the public domain, and NGC 7252, which has a superficial resemblance to an atomic nucleus surrounded by the loops of electronic orbits, was dubbed the Atoms for Peace galaxy in honor of this. Its peculiar appearance is the result of a collision between two galaxies that took place about a billion years ago, which ripped both galaxies apart. The loop-like outer structures, likely made up of dust and stars flung outwards by the crash, but recalling orbiting electrons in an atom, are partly responsible for the galaxy's nickname.
Size: 4462px × 4170px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 226, 7252, arp, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, atoms, body, celestial, colliding, collision, cosmography, cosmological, cosmology, cosmos, deep, dust, galaxies, galaxy, gas, gravity, heavenly, ngc, ngc7252, object, peace, science, sky, space, spin, spinning, spiral, star, time, universe, vortex
