File:Hubble_Interacting_Galaxy_NGC_520_(2008-04-24).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Q696066
Sign in to saveAlso known as Flying Ghost
pair of colliding spiral galaxies in the constellation Pisces
Key facts
- Constellation
- Pisces
- Right ascension
- 01 24 35.071
- Declination
- +03 ° 47 ′ 32.68 ″
- Redshift
- 0.007609 ± 0.000010
- Heliocentric radial velocity
- 2,281 ± 3 km/s
- Distance
- 105 Mly (32.2 Mpc )
- Type
- Pec
- Size
- ~103,500 ly (31.74 kpc ) (estimated)
- Apparent size v
- 3.4′ × 1.7′
- Notable features
- Interacting galaxies
via Wikipedia infobox
~2 min read
Encyclopedic overview
NGC 520, also known as the Flying Ghost, is a pair of colliding spiral galaxies about 105 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces. They were discovered by astronomer William Herschel on 13 December 1784.
Halton Arp called this the second-brightest very disturbed galaxy in the sky, and it is as bright in the infrared and radio bands as the Antennae Galaxies. Simulations indicate this object consists of two galactic disks that began interacting about 300 million years ago. The system is still in an early stage of its merger, showing two separate velocity systems in the spectra, and two small tails. Two galactic nuclei have been detected, and one is an H II nucleus.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Q696066” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.