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Antennae Galaxies

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Antennae Galaxies

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Also known as NGC 4038/NGC 4039, Caldwell 60/Caldwell 61, Antennae Galaxy

Interacting galaxies in the constellation Corvus

Key facts

Constellation
Corvus
Right ascension
12 01 53.0 / 12 01 53.5
Declination
−18 ° 52 ′ 03 ″ / −18 ° 53 ′ 10 ″
Redshift
0.005 417 ± 0.000 017 / 0.005 474 ± 0.000 030
Heliocentric radial velocity
1,624 ± 5 km/s / 1,641 ± 9 km/s
Galactocentric velocity
1,467 ± 8 km/s / 1,484 ± 11 km/s
Distance
71.75 ± 9.785 Mly (22 ± 3 Mpc )
Apparent magnitude v
11.2 / 11.08
Type
SB(s)m pec / SA(s)m pecLINERSbrst
Size
634,410 ly × 456,780 ly, (194.51 kpc × 140.05 kpc), ( diameter ; 27.0 B-mag arcsec ) /, 258,320 ly × 118,820 ly, (79.20 kpc × 36.43 kpc), ( diameter ; 25.5 B-mag arcsec )
Apparent size v
5.2′ × 3.1′ / 3.1′ × 1.6′
Notable features
Interacting galaxies

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Constellation
Corvus
Child body
Q2421864
Distance from Earth
25.0
Image
Antennae galaxies xl.jpg
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Commons category
Antennae Galaxies
discoverer or inventor
William Herschel
time of discovery or invention
1785-02-07
redshift
0.005477
right ascension
180.4715417
declination
-18.8772000
radial velocity
1705
apparent magnitude
7.177
epoch
J2000.0
catalog code
FAUST 2987
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~6 min read

Encyclopedic overview

The Antennae Galaxies (also known as NGC 4038/NGC 4039 or Caldwell 60/Caldwell 61) are a pair of interacting galaxies in the constellation Corvus. They are currently going through a starburst phase, in which the collision of clouds of gas and dust, with entangled magnetic fields, causes rapid star formation. They were discovered by William Herschel in 1785.

General information

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Antennae Galaxies” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (3)