Designation |
NGC 4038 + NGC 4039, The Antennae,
The Ringtail Galaxy |
Object type |
Colliding galaxy pair |
Coordinates |
12 h 02 min
-18° 30' (Corvus) |
Description |
A cosmic embrace 60 million light
years away. Shorter exposures show the brightest features of these
interacting galaxies as a mirrored question mark or a ringtail.
There are two filaments that give the galaxy pair its other popular name.
They emit strongly in radio wavelengths and were
created by the tidal forces of the collision process. These forces also
trigger new star forming regions.
A wider field, showing more of the filaments, can be found here.
|
Exposure |
LRGB 80:30:30:60 min @ -15°C
- RGB binned 2x2 |
Camera |
SBIG ST-10XE selfguided,
SBIG CFW-8 with Astronomik Type II RGB filter set |
Optics |
RCOS 14.5" Ritchey-Chrétien
@ f/9 |
Mount |
Astro-Physics AP1200GTO |
Software |
MaxIm DL/CCD, DeBloomer, Sigma Pre Beta
11, Adobe
Photoshop CS |
Location - Date - Time |
San Esteban (Chile) - 03Jan04 -
07:00 UTC (L) resp. 01Feb04 - 06:00 UTC (RGB) |
Conditions |
Transparency 7, Seeing 7, Temperature
+13°C |