This is a Hubble Space Telescope snapshot of the early stages of a collision between two galaxies that resembles a Halloween carved pumpkin. The "pumpkin's" glowing “eyes” are the bright, star-filled cores of each galaxy that contain supermassive black holes. An arm of newly forming stars give the imaginary pumpkin a wry smirk. The two galaxies, cataloged as NGC 2292 and NGC 2293, are located about 120 million light-years away in the constellation Canis Major.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and W. Keel (University of Alabama)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | NGC 2292 and NGC 2293 |
| Object Description | Pair of Interacting Galaxies |
| R.A. Position | 06:47:39.65 |
| Dec. Position | -26:44:46.50 |
| Constellation | Canis Major |
| Distance | about 120 million light-years |
| Dimensions | Image is about 3 arcmin across (about 108,000 light-years) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The HST observations include those from programs (W. Keel) |
| Instrument | ACS/WFC |
| Exposure Dates | 23 Jan 2020 |
| Filters | F606W |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the ACS/WFC instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope along with ground-based observations from the Pan-STARRS program. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are: Luminosity: F606W Blue: Pan-STARRS (g) Red: Pan-STARRS (z) The higher resolution, black & white Hubble image and the lower resolution, color Pan-STARRS images were combined using a technique that takes luminosity (brightness) information from the black and white ACS image and color information from the composite Pan-STARRS image. This preserves all of the higher-resolution detail from the Hubble data while also rendering a color image of this region of space. |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
