韦伯与哈勃影像: 互撞的螺旋星系

韦伯与哈勃影像: 互撞的螺旋星系

Colliding Spiral Galaxies from Webb and Hubble
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

Explanation: Billions of years from now, only one of these two galaxies will remain. Until then, spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163 will slowly pull each other apart, creating tides of matter, sheets of shocked gas, lanes of dark dust, bursts of star formation, and streams of cast-away stars. The featured image in scientifically assigned colors is a composite of Hubble exposures in visible light and Webb exposures in infrared light. Astronomers predict that NGC 2207, the larger galaxy on the right, will eventually incorporate IC 2163, the smaller galaxy on the left. In the most recent encounter that about peaked 40 million years ago, the smaller galaxy is swinging around counter-clockwise and is now slightly behind the larger galaxy. The space between stars is so vast that when galaxies collide, the stars in them usually do not collide.

Jigsaw Challenge: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Tomorrow’s picture: double red sky

韦伯与哈勃影像: 互撞的螺旋星系
影像提供: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

说明: 再过数十亿年，这2个星系只有1个会留存下来。不过在那一天来临之前，螺旋星系NGC 2207 和IC 2163会慢慢的把对方撕开，产生许多物质潮汐尾、被震波压缩成片状的气体、黝黑的尘埃带、一波波恒星诞生活动、及一群群被遗弃的恒星。这幅根据科学内涵着色的主题照片，则是组合自哈勃望远镜的可见光和韦伯望远镜的红外光影像数据。天文学家预言位于右侧的较大星系NGC 2207，将来会把左侧较小的星系IC 2163给并掉。在这二个星系最近一次、高峰出现在4千万年前的接近过程中，较小的IC 2163逆时钟旋绕，目前已绕到NGC 2207的左后方。不过，因为恒星的间距非常大，所以在星系碰撞的过程中，它们之内的恒星通常不会相撞。

拼图挑战: 每日天文拼图
明日的图片: double red sky