Images by Date
Images by Category
Solar System
Stars
Exoplanets
White Dwarfs
Supernovas
Neutron Stars
Black Holes
Milky Way Galaxy
Normal Galaxies
Quasars
Galaxy Clusters
Cosmology/Deep Field
Miscellaneous
Images by Interest
Space Scoop for Kids
4K JPG
Multiwavelength
Sky Map
Constellations
Photo Blog
Top Rated Images
Image Handouts
Desktops
Fits Files
Image Tutorials
Photo Album Tutorial
False Color
Cosmic Distance
Look-Back Time
Scale & Distance
Angular Measurement
Images & Processing
AVM/Metadata
Image Use Policy
Web Shortcuts
Chandra Blog
RSS Feed
Chronicle
Email Newsletter
News & Noteworthy
Image Use Policy
Questions & Answers
Glossary of Terms
Download Guide
Get Adobe Reader
More Information
Normal Galaxies & Starburst Galaxies
Related Podcasts
Tour: Astronomers Find Spark of Star Birth Across Billions of Years
Download Image

More Information
Handout
Handout: html | pdf

More Images
Arp 270 Optical Image
Click for large jpg
Jpeg,
(Credit: NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database)


Related Images
Arp 220
Arp 220
(19 Apr 02)
Antennae
Antennae
(16 Aug 00)
Arp 270:
Merging Galaxies And Cosmic Collisions


Arp 270
Credit: NASA/U. Birmingham/A.Read

The Chandra image of Arp 270 shows two galaxies about 90 million light years from Earth in the early stage of a merger. The future evolution of these galaxies will be radically changed by the merger as their mutual gravity distorts their shape, and the collision of gas clouds in the galaxies stimulates the formation of new stars.

The hot spots (blue) located where the disks of the galaxies are colliding are thought to be due to the formation of hundreds of thousands of new stars as the two gaseous disks rotate through each other.

These bursts of star formation create many massive stars that generate intense winds of hot gas, and these stars eventually explode as supernovas. This violent activity produces the hot gas clouds that surround the galaxy disks (red).

Astronomers hope to understand more about how supermassive black holes are formed in the centers of galaxies by studying galaxies at different stages in the merging process. These studies will also provide valuable insight as to how our own Milky Way Galaxy formed and evolved.

In the image, red represents low, green intermediate, and blue high-energy (temperature) X-rays.

Fast Facts for Arp 270:
Credit  NASA/U. Birmingham/A.Read
Scale  Image is 4 arcmin on a side.
Category  Normal Galaxies & Starburst Galaxies
Coordinates (J2000)  RA 10h 49m 52.5s | Dec +32° 59' 6"
Constellation  Leo Minor
Observation Dates  April 28, 2001
Observation Time  6 hours
Obs. IDs  2042
Color Code  Lower energy X-rays appear red, medium energy green and high-energy are blue.
Instrument  ACIS
Distance Estimate  90 million light years away
Release Date  May 07, 2002