Gemini South Reveals Tangled Spiral Arms of the Peculiar Galaxy NGC 7727
Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, captures the billion-year-old aftermath of a double spiral galaxy collision. At the heart of this chaotic interaction, entwined and caught in the midst of the chaos, is a pair of supermassive black holes — the closest such pair ever recorded from Earth.
Credit:International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Acknowledgment: PI: C. Onken (Australian National University)
Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), J. Miller (International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)
About the Image
Id: | noirlab2329a |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | Oct. 25, 2023, 11 a.m. |
Related releases: | noirlab2329 |
Size: | 1989 x 1924 px |
About the Object
Name: | NGC 7727 |
Distance: | 73 million light years |
Constellation: | Aquarius |
Category: | Galaxies Gemini Observatory |
Wallpapers
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Coordinates
Position (RA): | 23 39 54.30 |
Position (Dec): | -12° 17' 31.22" |
Field of view: | 5.31 x 5.14 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 99.0° left of vertical |
Colors & filters
Band | Wave-length | Tele-scope |
---|---|---|
Optical g | 475 nm | Gemini South GMOS-S |
Optical r | 630 nm | Gemini South GMOS-S |
Optical H-alpha | 662 nm | Gemini South GMOS-S |
Optical i | 780 nm | Gemini South GMOS-S |