A cosmic “meet-cute”⁣

               A cosmic “meet-cute.”⁣:

A celestial object about 465 million light-years away from Earth, “Arp 107” includes a pair of galaxies that are about to collide. On the left is an energized Seyfert galaxy. You can see the immense brightness at the core where it houses an active galactic nuclei. Radiation is bursting from the entire galaxy making it clearly visible even by its spiraling whorls, star formation, and dust lanes. On the right is its smaller friend connecting to the larger galaxy by a “bridge” of dust and gas. ⁣

Halton Arp compiled a catalog of 338 galaxies in 1966 named Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies which included Arp 107. @NASAHubble captured this pair for a program of observations of Arp Catalog members. ⁣

Image description: 

A pair of merging galaxies. The galaxy on the left has a large, single spiral arm curving out from the core and around to below it, with very visible glowing dust and gas. The right galaxy has a bright core but only a bit of very faint material. A broad curtain of gas connects the two galaxies’ cores and hangs beneath them. A few small stars and galaxies are scattered around the black background.⁣

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                    23 September 2023