Interacting Galaxies in Miniature: Wide-field view | Victor Blanco Telescope

Interacting Galaxies in Miniature: Wide-field view | Victor Blanco Telescope

Far, far away in the constellation Phoenix, there are two interacting galaxies spanning a hundred thousand light-years. This image was captured by the 4-meter Víctor M. Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab in Chile, South America. Collectively known as NGC 454, the upper galaxy is a red elliptical galaxy called NGC 454 E, while below it is NGC 454 W, a blue, gas-rich irregular galaxy. 

Distance: 160 million light years

Despite being in the early stages of their interaction, both galaxies already show severe distortion. Remnants of both galaxies have been stretched far beyond their main bodies—from the disarray of both galaxies’ stellar populations at the top right of this image—to the globular clusters forming at NGC 454 W’s bottom-left side. 

Dust lanes from the dynamic interaction cross NGC 454 E. NGC 454 W barely looks like the disk galaxy it was thought to be. Their early merger is further evidenced by the veil of a low surface brightness halo surrounding the galaxies as well as the myriad of young stars that populate the system. Now gravitationally bound together, the interactions within NGC 454 will eventually lead to them combining.

This interacting pair was captured by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) made by the US Department of Energy as part of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Legacy Imaging Surveys.

Credit: DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys/LBNL/DOE & KPNO/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Rodriguez (Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab) & M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab)

Release Date: Sept. 20, 2023

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