Antennae Galaxies
| Antennae Galaxies | |
|---|---|
Hubble Space Telescope image of NGC 4038 (top) and NGC 4039 (bottom) | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Corvus |
| Right ascension | 12h 01m 53.0s / 12h 01m 53.5s |
| Declination | −18° 52′ 03″ / −18° 53′ 10″ |
| Redshift | 0.005417±0.000017 / 0.005474±0.000030 |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 1,624±5 km/s / 1,641±9 km/s |
| Galactocentric velocity | 1,467±8 km/s / 1,484±11 km/s |
| Distance | 71.75 ± 9.785 Mly (22 ± 3 Mpc) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 11.2 / 11.08 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | SB(s)m pec / SA(s)m pecLINERSbrst |
| Size | 634,410 ly × 456,780 ly (194.51 kpc × 140.05 kpc) (diameter; 27.0 B-mag arcsec−2) / 258,320 ly × 118,820 ly (79.20 kpc × 36.43 kpc) (diameter; 25.5 B-mag arcsec−2) |
| Apparent size (V) | 5.2′ × 3.1′ / 3.1′ × 1.6′ |
| Notable features | Interacting galaxies |
| Other designations | |
| Ringtail Galaxy, NGC 4038 / 4039, PGC 37967 / 37969, Arp 244, Caldwell 60/61, UGCA 264/265 | |
The Antennae Galaxies (also known as NGC 4038/NGC 4039 or Caldwell 60/Caldwell 61) are a pair of interacting galaxies in the constellation Corvus. They are currently going through a starburst phase, in which the collision of clouds of gas and dust, with entangled magnetic fields, causes rapid star formation. They were discovered by William Herschel in 1785.