The Merging System Arp 220

Eso_eso0727c_1024

eso_eso0727c June 13th, 2007

Credit: ESO

In this galaxy the nuclei are much closer and cannot be distinguished without high spatial resolution. This was a challenging galaxy to observe because it is very difficult to perform the corrections. Nevertheless, a resolution comparable to the Hubble Space Telescope was achieved, i.e. 0.2 second of arc. It reveals for the first time the motion of the stars in this system, showing that there are two counter-rotating discs of stars. These are the nuclei of the progenitor galaxies. In contrast, the motion of the gas is dominated by a larger scale disc, formed from the leftover gas in the discs of the progenitors. The rotation of this gas is governed by the geometry of the interaction, and so is different to that of the stars in the progenitor nuclei. The four images show (from left to right and from top to bottom) : the distribution of the molecular gas, the stellar light, the velocity of the gas, and the velocity of the stars. For the velocity maps, the blue and red colours indicate motion towards us and away from us respectively.

Provider: European Southern Observatory

Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0727c/

Curator: European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Arp 22
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Type > Spiral
Galaxy > Type > Barred

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Pseudocolor VLT (NACO) Infrared (Near-IR) -
Pseudocolor VLT (SINFONI) Infrared (Near-IR) -
Eso_eso0727c_1280
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ID
eso0727c
Subject Category
C.5.1.1   C.5.1.2  
Subject Name
Arp 22
Credits
ESO
Release Date
2007-06-13T00:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0727c/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Very Large Telescope, Very Large Telescope
Instrument
NACO, SINFONI
Color Assignment
Pseudocolor, Pseudocolor
Band
Infrared, Infrared
Bandpass
Near-IR, Near-IR
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
Equinox
Reference Value
Reference Dimension
3226.0, 3535.0
Reference Pixel
Scale
Rotation
Coordinate System Projection:
Quality
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
European Southern Observatory
URL
http://www.eso.org/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
European Southern Observatory
Publisher ID
eso
Resource ID
eso0727c
Metadata Date
2023-10-11T09:26:42.141119
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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