Antennae Galaxies

Also known as NGC 4038/NGC 4039, Caldwell 60/Caldwell 61, Antennae Galaxy

Interacting galaxies in the constellation Corvus

Key facts

Constellation: Corvus
Right ascension: 12 01 53.0 / 12 01 53.5
Declination: −18 ° 52 ′ 03 ″ / −18 ° 53 ′ 10 ″
Redshift: 0.005 417 ± 0.000 017 / 0.005 474 ± 0.000 030
Heliocentric radial velocity: 1,624 ± 5 km/s / 1,641 ± 9 km/s
Galactocentric velocity: 1,467 ± 8 km/s / 1,484 ± 11 km/s
Distance: 71.75 ± 9.785 Mly (22 ± 3 Mpc )
Apparent magnitude v: 11.2 / 11.08
Type: SB(s)m pec / SA(s)m pecLINERSbrst
Size: 634,410 ly × 456,780 ly, (194.51 kpc × 140.05 kpc), ( diameter ; 27.0 B-mag arcsec ) /, 258,320 ly × 118,820 ly, (79.20 kpc × 36.43 kpc), ( diameter ; 25.5 B-mag arcsec )
Apparent size v: 5.2′ × 3.1′ / 3.1′ × 1.6′
Notable features: Interacting galaxies

via Wikipedia infobox

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Encyclopedic overview

The Antennae Galaxies (also known as NGC 4038/NGC 4039 or Caldwell 60/Caldwell 61) are a pair of interacting galaxies in the constellation Corvus. They are currently going through a starburst phase, in which the collision of clouds of gas and dust, with entangled magnetic fields, causes rapid star formation. They were discovered by William Herschel in 1785.

General information

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Antennae Galaxies” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.