News Release Archive:

News Release 205 of 884

April 24, 2008 09:00 AM (EDT)

News Release Number: STScI-2008-16

Cosmic Collisions Galore!

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Image: Hubble Interacting Galaxy NGC 6786

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ABOUT THIS IMAGE:

This Hubble image displays a beautiful pair of interacting spiral galaxies with swirling arms. The smaller of the two, dubbed LEDA 62867 and positioned to the left of the frame, seems to be safe for now, but will probably be swallowed by the larger spiral galaxy, NGC 6786 (to the right) eventually. There is already some disturbance visible in both components. The pair is number 538 in Karachentsev's Catalog of Pairs of Galaxies. A supernova was seen to explode in the large spiral in 2004. NGC 6786 is located in the constellation of Draco, the Dragon, about 350 million light-years away.

This image is part of a large collection of 59 images of merging galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on the occasion of its 18th anniversary on 24th April 2008.

Object Names: NGC 6786, UGC11415, VV 414, KPG 538, LEDA 62867

Image Type: Astronomical

Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)

Technical facts about this image:

About the Object

Object Name:	NGC 6786, UGC11415, VV 414, KPG 538, LEDA 62867
Object Description:	Interacting Galaxies
Position (J2000):	19 10 59.66 +73 25 03.8
Constellation:	Draco
Distance:	350 million light-years (100 million parsecs)

About the Data

Data Description:	The Hubble image was created using HST data from proposal 10592: A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)
Instrument:	ACS/WFC
Exposure Date(s):	March 10, 2002
Exposure Time:	40 minutes
Filters:	F435W (B) and F814W (I)

About the Image

Image Credit:	NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)
Release Date:	April 24, 2008