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. This disc resembles a spiral galaxy like our own galaxy, the Milky Way, but is only about 10 000 light-years across, about a tenth of the size of the Milky Way. It is believed that this whirling structure is a remnant of the galactic collision. It will most likely have vanished in a few billion years' time, when NGC 7252 will have completed its merging process.
Size: 3788px × 3600px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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