What happens when galaxies collide [
http://csep10.phys.…colliding.html ]? One of the best studied examples [
http://www.cv.nrao.…] of the jumble of star clusters, gas, and dust clouds produced by such a cosmic train wreck [
http://www.npaci.ed…galaxies2.html ] is the interacting galaxy pair NGC 4038 / NGC 4039, the Antennae Galaxies [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…], only sixty million light-years away. In visible light images, long, luminous tendrils of material seem to reach out from the galactic wreckage [
http://www.cita.uto…antennae/antennae.ht ml ], lending the entwined pair an insect-like appearance. But this penetrating view from the new Wide-field InfraRed Camera (WIRC [
http://astrosun.tn.…WIRCstuff/wirc_perfo rmance.htm ]) attached to the Palomar Observatory's [
http://www.astro.ca…overview.html ] 200 inch Hale telescope shows, in false-color, details of some otherwise hidden features. The large central nuclei of the two original galaxies dominate the near-infrared scene speckled with other bright sources which are themselves giant, newly formed star clusters [
http://astron.berke…antennae/ ]. Remarkably the northern (topmost) nucleus, obscured in optical images, is also revealed here to have a barred, mini-spiral structure reminiscent [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of many "single" spiral galaxies.
Explanation
What happens when galaxies collide [
http://csep10.phys.…colliding.html ]? One of the best studied examples [
http://www.cv.nrao.…] of the jumble of star clusters, gas, and dust clouds produced by such a cosmic train wreck [
http://www.npaci.ed…galaxies2.html ] is the interacting galaxy pair NGC 4038 / NGC 4039, the Antennae Galaxies [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…], only sixty million light-years away. In visible light images, long, luminous tendrils of material seem to reach out from the galactic wreckage [
http://www.cita.uto…antennae/antennae.ht ml ], lending the entwined pair an insect-like appearance. But this penetrating view from the new Wide-field InfraRed Camera (WIRC [
http://astrosun.tn.…WIRCstuff/wirc_perfo rmance.htm ]) attached to the Palomar Observatory's [
http://www.astro.ca…overview.html ] 200 inch Hale telescope shows, in false-color, details of some otherwise hidden features. The large central nuclei of the two original galaxies dominate the near-infrared scene speckled with other bright sources which are themselves giant, newly formed star clusters [
http://astron.berke…antennae/ ]. Remarkably the northern (topmost) nucleus, obscured in optical images, is also revealed here to have a barred, mini-spiral structure reminiscent [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of many "single" spiral galaxies.
Explanation
