NGC 6872 and IC 4970

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NGC 6872 and IC 4970
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Pavo
Right ascension 20h 16m 56.5s / 20h 16m 57.1s[1]
Declination -70° 46′ 06″ / -70° 44′ 58″[1]
Redshift 4560 ± 30 / 4720 ± 40 km/s[1]
Distance 300 Mly[citation needed]
Type SAB(rs)c / SA0- pec[1]
Apparent dimensions (V) 6′.0 × 1′.7 / 0′.7 × 0′.2[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 12.7 / 14.7[1]
Notable features Interacting galaxies
Other designations
ESO 073-IG 032 / 073-IG 033,[1]
PGC 64413 / 64415[1]
See also: Galaxy, List of galaxies

NGC 6872 and IC 4970 are a set of interacting galaxies approximately 300 million light-years away in the constellation Pavo.

On March 29, 1999, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) took a look at these galaxies. It shows the spectacular barred spiral galaxy NGC 6872 that is shaped like an "integral sign". It is of type SBb and is accompanied by a smaller, interacting galaxy, IC 4970 of type E7-S0.[citation needed]

One of NGC 6872 spiral arms is significantly disturbed and is populated by a plethora of bluish objects, many of which are star-forming regions. This may have been be caused by a recent passage of IC 4970 through it. The whole galaxies extends over more than 7 arcmin in the sky and its real size from tip to tip is thus nearly 750,000 light-years. It is in fact one of the largest known, barred spiral galaxies.

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[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Results for NGC 4676A / 4676B. Retrieved on 2006-11-21.