NGC 520：哈勃拍摄的碰撞星系
(原标题: NGC 520: Colliding Galaxies from Hubble)
2021-09-07
浏览次数: 37
这是一个星系还是两个星系？由恒星、气体和尘埃组成的NGC 520现在被认为是两个独立盘状星系的残骸。NGC 520的一个决定性组成部分——从哈勃太空望远镜的特色图像中可以非常详细地看到——是它的复杂交错的尘埃带，垂直地沿着碰撞星系的脊椎向下延伸。类似的碰撞可能会在几十亿年后发生，届时我们的盘状银河系将与我们的大盘状邻居仙女座星系（M31）相撞。NGC 520的碰撞始于大约3亿年前。NGC 520也被称为arp157，距离我们约1亿光年，跨度约10万光年，可以用小型望远镜看到鱼座（双鱼座）。尽管NGC 520中的恒星速度很快，但距离如此之远，在我们的有生之年，这对战斗的恒星肯定不会明显改变其形状。
查看原文解释
Is this one galaxy or two? The jumble of stars, gas, and dust that is NGC 520 is now thought to incorporate the remains of two separate disk galaxies. A defining component of NGC 520 -- as seen in great detail in the featured image from the Hubble Space Telescope -- is its band of intricately interlaced dust running vertically down the spine of the colliding galaxies. A similar looking collision might be expected in a few billion years when our disk Milky Way Galaxy to collides with our large-disk galactic neighbor Andromeda (M31). The collision that defines NGC 520 started about 300 million years ago. Also known as Arp 157, NGC 520 lies about 100 million light years distant, spans about 100 thousand light years, and can be seen with a small telescope toward the constellation of the Fish (Pisces). Although the speeds of stars in NGC 520 are fast, the distances are so vast that the battling pair will surely not change its shape noticeably during our lifetimes.