NGC 4038/NGC 4039, Antennae Galaxies, Optical
The Antennae galaxies, located about 62 million light years from Earth. The Antennae galaxies take their name from the long antenna-like "arms," seen in wide-angle views of the system. These features were produced by tidal forces generated in the collision. The collision, which began more than 100 million years ago and is still occurring, has triggered the formation of millions of stars in clouds of dusts and gas in the galaxies. The most massive of these young stars have already sped through their evolution in a few million years and exploded as supernovas. They are a pair of interacting galaxies in the constellation Corvus. They are currently going through a phase of starburst. The Hubble data reveal old stars and star-forming regions in gold and white while filaments of dust appear in brown. Many of the fainter objects in the optical image are clusters containing thousands of stars. Release date August 5, 2010.
Size: 3545px × 3600px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 2010, 21st, 4038, 4038/ngc, 4039, antennae, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, body, celestial, century, colliding, deep, evolution, galactic, galaxies, galaxy, heavenly, hst, hubble, image, interacting, ngc, object, optical, science, sky, space, telescope
