A spectacular bridge of stars and gas [
http://www.cv.nrao.…] stretches for nearly 250,000 light-years and joins this famous peculiar [
http://nedwww.ipac.…] pair of galaxies cataloged as Arp 295 [
http://www.cv.nrao.…]. The cosmic bridge between the galaxies [
http://starchild.gs…universe_level2/gala xies.html ] and the long tail extending below and right of picture center are strong evidence that these two immense star systems have passed close to each other [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in the past, allowing violent tides induced by mutual gravity to create the eye-catching plumes [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of stellar material. While such interactions [
http://gladstone.uo…] are drawn out over billions of years, repeated close passages [
http://www.npaci.ed…] should ultimately result in the merger of this pair of galaxies into a larger single galaxy of stars. Although this scenario [
http://adsabs.harva…bibcode=1972ApJ...17 8..623T&db_key=AST&h igh=3c862d41db22593 ] does look peculiar, galactic mergers are thought to be common, with Arp 295 representing an early stage of this inevitable process. The Arp 295 pair are the largest of a loose grouping of galaxies about 270 million light-years distant toward the constellation Aquarius. This deep color image [
http://www.ghg.net/…] of the region was recorded in September using the USNO 1 meter telescope [
http://www.nofs.nav…] near Flagstaff, Arizona.
Explanation
A spectacular bridge of stars and gas [
http://www.cv.nrao.…] stretches for nearly 250,000 light-years and joins this famous peculiar [
http://nedwww.ipac.…] pair of galaxies cataloged as Arp 295 [
http://www.cv.nrao.…]. The cosmic bridge between the galaxies [
http://starchild.gs…universe_level2/gala xies.html ] and the long tail extending below and right of picture center are strong evidence that these two immense star systems have passed close to each other [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] in the past, allowing violent tides induced by mutual gravity to create the eye-catching plumes [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] of stellar material. While such interactions [
http://gladstone.uo…] are drawn out over billions of years, repeated close passages [
http://www.npaci.ed…] should ultimately result in the merger of this pair of galaxies into a larger single galaxy of stars. Although this scenario [
http://adsabs.harva…bibcode=1972ApJ...17 8..623T&db_key=AST&h igh=3c862d41db22593 ] does look peculiar, galactic mergers are thought to be common, with Arp 295 representing an early stage of this inevitable process. The Arp 295 pair are the largest of a loose grouping of galaxies about 270 million light-years distant toward the constellation Aquarius. This deep color image [
http://www.ghg.net/…] of the region was recorded in September using the USNO 1 meter telescope [
http://www.nofs.nav…] near Flagstaff, Arizona.
Explanation
