The Tangled Spiral Arms of Peculiar Galaxy NGC 7727 | Gemini South Telescope

The Tangled Spiral Arms of Peculiar Galaxy NGC 7727 | Gemini South Telescope

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 

Acknowledgment: PI: C. Onken (Australian National University)

Image Processing: 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)

Release Date: Oct. 25, 2023

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