Exploring the Hixson Compact Galaxy Cluster 90 in Astonishing Detail

2024-04-24 12:20:55

This is an image of the Hixson Compact Galaxy Cluster 90 (HCG 90) and its surroundings, located about 100 million light years away in the direction of the constellation Pisces South. A galaxy group is a collection of several dozen galaxies smaller than a galaxy cluster, and those in which several galaxies are grouped together in a particularly small area are called compact galaxy groups.

[▲ « Hixon Compact Galaxy Group 90 » dans la constellation australe des Poissons (Crédit : Inaf/Vst. Remerciements : M. Spavone (Inaf), R. Calvi (Inaf))]

Among the vaguely bright galaxies in the center of the image, the elliptical galaxy at the top right is “NGC 7173”, and the elliptical galaxy at the bottom left is “NGC 7176”. Elliptical galaxies don’t have visible structures like spiral arms, but if you look closely at the NGC 7176 image, you can see a spiral arm-like structure extending to the right. In fact, to the right of NGC 7176 is another spiral galaxy called “NGC 7174”. Its distorted and elongated shape suggests the gravitational interaction of the three galaxies.

Finally, let’s take a look at the top of the image. This image shows NGC 7172, a spiral galaxy known as the “edge galaxy” located directly to the side of Earth. Although separate from the three dancing galaxies, NGC 7172 is also one of the galaxies that make up HCG 90. At its center is an active galactic nucleus（※）exists, and NGC 7172 is classified as a Seyfert galaxy (Seyfert type 2), which is a type of active galaxy.

*…The driving force behind the activity in the narrow region at the center of the galaxy that emits strong electromagnetic waves is thought to be a supermassive black hole.

The beginning image was created based on data acquired by the wide-angle camera “OmegaCAM” mounted on the “VLT Survey Telescope (VST)” of the Paranal Observatory (Chile), and was created by the Italian National Astronomical Institute, which manages the VST Published by the National Institute of Academic Affairs (INAF) on April 16, 2024.

Source

• INAF MEDIA – Riot of galaxies in three new images from Vst

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