Spiral Galaxies NGC 3166 and NGC 3169

This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. NGC 3166 (lower right) and NGC 3169 (upper left) are two spiral galaxies trapped in a death spiral. As these two galaxies begin to merge, they are starting to be pulled apart. The faint wisps surrounding NGC 3169 are its outer spiral arms being pulled off. Eventually these two galaxies will merge to form a single galaxy. NGC 3165, the small galaxy below NGC 3166, is also a member of this group. The image was generated with observations in the B (blue), V (green), I (orange) and Hydrogen-Alpha (red) filters. This image is rotated clockwise 30 degrees from north is up, east is to the left.

Credit:
T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) and H. Schweiker (WIYN and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA)

About the Image

Id:noao-ngc3166
Type:Observation
Release date:June 30, 2020, 9:33 p.m.
Size:5260 x 4500 px

About the Object

Name:NGC 3166, NGC 3169
Constellation:Sextans
Category:Galaxies

Image Formats

Large JPEGLarge JPEG
7.9 MB
Screensize JPEGScreensize JPEG
206.1 KB

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Coordinates

ObjectValue
Position (RA):10 13 54.38
Position (Dec):3° 28' 57.54"
Field of view:22.75 x 19.47 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 30.1° right of vertical


Colors & filters

BandWave-lengthTele-scope
Optical
B
436 nmNicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope
Mosaic I
Optical
V
537 nmNicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope
Mosaic I
Optical
I
805 nmNicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope
Mosaic I
Optical
Ha
656 nmNicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope
Mosaic I