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’s NOIRLab), J. Miller (International Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF’s 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

Image Formats

Large JPEGLarge JPEG
757.9 KB
Screensize JPEGScreensize JPEG
169.9 KB

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Coordinates

ObjectValue
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

BandWave-lengthTele-scope
Optical
g
475 nmGemini South
GMOS-S
Optical
r
630 nmGemini South
GMOS-S
Optical
H-alpha
662 nmGemini South
GMOS-S
Optical
i
780 nmGemini South
GMOS-S