Cerro Tololo | NOAO Gemini Science Center | Kitt Peak
GSMT | LSST | Data Products | Major Instrumentation | O/IR System
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Cerro Tololo | NOAO Gemini Science Center | Kitt PeakGSMT | LSST | Data Products | Major Instrumentation | O/IR System |
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Siamese Twin Galaxies in a Gravitational Embrace | In what appears to be a masterful illusion, astronomers at Gemini Observatory have imaged two nearly identical spiral galaxies in Virgo, 90 million light years distant, in the early stages of a gentle gravitational embrace. The new image was obtained at the Gemini South telescope in Chile using GMOS, the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph. Like two skaters grabbing hands while passing, NGC 5427 (the nearly open-faced spiral galaxy at lower left) and its southern twin NGC 5426 (the more oblique galaxy at upper right), are in the throes of a slow but disturbing interaction-one that could take a hundred million years to complete. Image Credit: Gemini Obseratory Link to previous homepage images. |
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NOAO is the national center for ground-based nighttime astronomy in the United States and is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc. under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. If you would like information about solar astronomy, visit the National Solar Observatory. |
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