Happy Holidays 2020
In a year like no other, we wish you the best this holiday season and a prosperous, peaceful 2021!
This observation from the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory shows the result of a truly spectacular galactic collision. The elliptical galaxy NGC 5291 — the hazy oval cloud at the center of this image — was struck by a careening rogue galaxy over 300 million years ago. The aftermath of this cataclysmic collision is a ring of galactic debris — visible as the tenuous luminous clouds spreading left and right from the golden oval of NGC 5291. This image also shows more gentle galactic interactions — NGC 5291 is interacting sedately with the unusually curved galaxy to the right of it, which is known as the Seashell.
From all of us to all of you.
Credit:CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
About the Image
Id: | iotw2051a |
Type: | Artwork |
Release date: | Dec. 17, 2020, 2:52 p.m. |
Size: | 3999 x 2250 px |
About the Object
Category: | Illustrations |