Merging NGC 2623
From NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the
Day
NGC 2623 is really two galaxies that are becoming one. Seen to be in the final stages of a titanic galaxy merger, the pair lies some 300 million light-years distant toward the constellation Cancer.
The violent encounter
between two galaxies that may have been similar to the Milky Way has produced widespread star formation near a luminous core
and along eye-catching tidal tails.
Filled with dust, gas,
and young blue star clusters, the opposing tidal tails extend well over 50,000
light-years from the merged nucleus. Likely triggered by the merger, accretion
by a supermassive black hole drives activity within the nuclear region.
The star formation and
its active galactic nucleus make NGC 2623 bright across the spectrum. This sharp
cosmic snapshot of NGC 2623 (aka Arp 243) is based on Hubble Legacy Archive
image data that also reveals even more distant background galaxies scattered through the field of view.
Image Credit: Hubble
Legacy Archive, ESA, NASA; Processing - Martin Pugh