Cosmic ‘Cotton Candy’: Galaxy NGC 7727 | Gemini South Telescope

Cosmic ‘Cotton Candy’: Galaxy NGC 7727 | Gemini South Telescope

Cosmoview Episode 72: Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab, captured the billion-year-old aftermath of a double spiral galaxy collision. At the heart of this chaotic interaction, entwined and caught in the midst of the chaos, is a pair of supermassive black holes—the closest such pair ever recorded from Earth.

Distance: 73 million light years

Learn more about the Gemini South Telescope:
https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/gemini-observatory/gemini-south/

Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA 

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

Duration: 49 seconds

Release Date: Aug 21, 2024

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