The Antennae Galaxies - NGC 4038/4039
The colliding Antennae galaxies, located about 62 million light-years from Earth, are shown in this composite image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue), the Hubble Space Telescope (gold and brown), and the Spitzer Space Telescope (red).
The imaging data were taken in 1999, 2003, 2004, and 2005. The Antennae galaxies take their name from the long antenna-like "arms," seen in wide-angle views of the system. These features were produced by tidal forces generated in the collision. The collision, which began more than 100 million years ago and is still occurring, has triggered the formation of millions of stars in clouds of dust and gas in the galaxies.
Object Name: NGC 4038/4039, Antennae Galaxies
Object Description: Interacting Galaxies
Position (J2000): R.A. 12h 01m 53s.18
Dec. -18° 52' 52 ".4
Constellation: Corvus
Distance: 60 million light-years (19 megaparsecs)
Dimensions: The composite image of the Antennae Galaxies is 34 arcminutes (59,000 light-years or 18,000 parsecs) wide.
About the Spitzer Data
Data Description: The Spitzer Space Telescope data were courtesy of NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Z. Wang (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA).
Instrument: Infrared Array Camera (IRAC)
Exposure Date(s): December 24, 2003
Filters: 8.0 microns
About the Hubble Data
Data Description: The Hubble component was from the HST proposal 10188: B. Whitmore (STScI) et al.
Instrument: ACS/WFC
Exposure Date(s): July 21, 2004 and February 16, 2005
Exposure Time: 4.9 hours
Filters: F435W (B), F550M (y), and F814W (I)
About the Chandra Data
Data Description: The science team was led by J. DePasquale. Image courtesy of NASA/CXC/SAO/J. DePasquale.
Instrument: ACIS
Exposure Date(s): December 1999 - July 2002
Energies: 0.45 - 8 keV
About the Image
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, SAO, CXC, JPL-Caltech, and STScI
Release Date: August 5, 2010
Color: This image is a composite of many separate exposures made by the NASA Great Observatories. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are:
Chandra X-ray Observatory X-ray blue
Hubble Space Telescope Optical/Visible yellow
Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared red