NGC 7318

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NGC 7318

HGC 92. 8-micrometre infrared light = red, H-alpha = green, visible red light = blue
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Pegasus
Right ascension 22h 35m 56.7s / 22h 35m 58.4s[1]
Declination +33° 57′ 56″ / +33° 57′ 57″[1]
Redshift 6630 ± 23 / 5774 ± 24 km/s[1]
Distance 300 Mly[citation needed]
Type E2 pec / SB(s)bc pec[1]
Apparent dimensions (V) 0′.9 × 0′.9 / 1′.9 × 1′.2[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 14.4 / 13.9[1]
Notable features Colliding galaxies
Other designations
NGC 7318a / 7318b,[1] UGC 12099 / 12100,[1]
Arp 319,[1] PGC 69260 / 69263,[1] HCG 92d / 92b[1]
See also: Galaxy, List of galaxies

NGC 7318 (also known as UGC 12099/UGC 12100 or HCG 92d/b) are a pair of colliding galaxies about 300 million light-years away in the Constellation Pegasus. They are members of the famous Stephan's Quintet.

The Spitzer Space Telescope revealed the presence of a huge intergalactic shock wave, shown by the magnificent green arc in the picture at right produced by one galaxy falling into another at millions of miles per hour. As NGC 7318B collides with NGC 7318A, gas spread throughout the cluster, atoms of hydrogen are heated in the shock wave, producing the green glow. The molecular hydrogen seen here is one of the most turbulent forms of molecular hydrogen ever seen. This phenomenon was discovered by an international team of scientists of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (MPIK) in Heidelberg. Most notable is the fact that this collision can help provide a view into what happened in the early universe 10 billion years ago when it formed.

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 7318a / 7318b. Retrieved 2006-10-23. 

Coordinates: 22h 35m 56.7s, +33° 57′ 56″

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