|
Like a pair of figure skaters linking arms, NGC 5257 and 5258 are a lovely pair of interacting spiral galaxies. Their shapes are distorted by each other's gravitational field, and one spiral arm connects both galaxies. These galaxies are approximately 350 million light years away, or about 175 times as far as the Andromeda galaxy. There are many much more distant galaxies visible as faint fuzzy patches in the background, including one over 1 billion light years away. Also known as Arp 240, this pair was noted by Dr. Arp on his list of "peculiar objects". |
Image taken on May 23, 2006
Kitt Peak National Observatory,
Kitt Peak, AZ
Seeing conditions: 1.8 arcsecond stellar images (FWHM).
Luminance = 90 minutes (6 x 15)
binned 1x1
Red = 30 minutes (2 x 15)
binned 2x2
Green = 30 minutes (2 x 15)
binned 2x2
Blue = 30 minutes (2 x 15)
binned 2x2