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.
22-599: The Antennae Galaxies are undergoing a galactic collision. Located in the NGC 4038 group with five other galaxies, these two galaxies are known as the Antennae Galaxies because the two long tails of stars , gas and dust ejected from the galaxies as a result of the collision resemble an insect's antennae . The nuclei of the two galaxies are joining to become one giant galaxy . Most galaxies probably undergo at least one significant collision in their lifetimes. This
44-456: A figure that is consistent with results obtained for other superclusters. By comparison, the mass-to-light ratio for the Milky Way is 63.8 assuming a solar absolute magnitude of 4.83, a Milky Way absolute magnitude of −20.9, and a Milky Way mass of 1.25 × 10 M ☉ . These ratios are one of the main arguments in favor of the presence of large amounts of dark matter in
66-462: A relatively young collection of massive globular clusters that were possibly formed as a result of the collision between the two galaxies. The young age of these clusters is in contrast to the average age of most known globular clusters (which are around 12 billion years old), with the formation of the globulars likely originating from shockwaves, generated by the collision of the galaxies, compressing large, massive molecular clouds. The densest regions of
88-705: Is experiencing a bulk flow on the order of 600 km/s in the direction of the Norma Cluster (Abell 3627) . Lynden-Bell et al. (1988) dubbed the cause of this the " Great Attractor ". The Great Attractor is now understood to be the center of mass of an even larger structure of galaxy clusters, dubbed " Laniakea ", which includes the Virgo Supercluster (including the Local Group) as well as the Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster,
110-736: Is likely the future of our Milky Way when it collides with the Andromeda Galaxy . This collision and merger sequence (the Toomre sequence ) for galaxy evolution was developed in part by successfully modeling the Antennae Galaxies' "antennae" in particular. A recent study finds that these interacting galaxies are less remote from the Milky Way than previously thought—at 45 million light-years instead of 65 million light-years. They are located 0.25° north of 31 Crateris and 3.25° southwest of Gamma Corvi . The Antennae galaxies also contain
132-466: Is only a part of an even greater supercluster, Laniakea , a larger group centered on the Great Attractor , thus subsuming the former Virgo Supercluster under Laniakea. Beginning with the first large sample of nebulae published by William and John Herschel in 1863, it was known that there is a marked excess of nebular fields in the constellation Virgo , near the north galactic pole . In
154-648: Is roughly 7,000 times that of the Local Group, or 100 billion times that of the Milky Way. The number density of galaxies in the LS falls off with the square of the distance from its center near the Virgo Cluster , suggesting that this cluster is not randomly located. Overall, the vast majority of the luminous galaxies (less than absolute magnitude −13) are concentrated in a small number of clouds (groups of galaxy clusters ). Ninety-eight percent can be found in
176-554: Is somewhat uncertain as is the exact number of galaxies within the group. The NGC 4038 group along with other galaxies and galaxy groups are part of the Crater Cloud which is a component of the Virgo Supercluster . Virgo Supercluster The Local Supercluster ( LSC or LS ), or Virgo Supercluster is a formerly defined supercluster containing the Virgo Cluster and Local Group , which itself contains
198-549: The Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, as well as others. At least 100 galaxy groups and clusters are located within its diameter of 33 megaparsecs (110 million light-years ). The Virgo Supercluster is one of about 10 million superclusters in the observable universe and is in the Pisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex , a galaxy filament . A 2014 study indicates that the Local Supercluster
220-531: The Sun . NGC 4038 group of galaxies The NGC 4038 Group is a group of galaxies in the constellations Corvus and Crater . The group may contain between 13 and 27 galaxies. The group's best known galaxies are the Antennae Galaxies (NGC 4038/NGC4039) , a well-known interacting pair of galaxies . The table below lists galaxies that have been consistently identified as group members in
242-401: The 1950s, French–American astronomer Gérard de Vaucouleurs was the first to argue that this excess represented a large-scale galaxy-like structure, coining the term "Local Supergalaxy" in 1953, which he changed to "Local Supercluster" (LSC ) in 1958. Harlow Shapley , in his 1959 book Of Stars and Men , suggested the term Metagalaxy . Debate went on during the 1960s and 1970s as to whether
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#1732776865240264-510: The Antennae Galaxies will eventually form an elliptical galaxy . Areas containing large amounts of neon (Ne), magnesium (Mg), and silicon (Si) were found when the Chandra X-ray Observatory analyzed the Antennae Galaxies. Heavy elements such as these are necessary in order for planets that may contain life (as we know it) to form. The clouds imaged contain 16 times as much magnesium and 24 times as much silicon as
286-605: The Antennae passed through each other, looking like the Mice Galaxies . 300 million years ago, the Antennae's stars began to be released from both galaxies. Today the two streamers of ejected stars extend far beyond the original galaxies, resulting in the antennae shape. Within 400 million years, the Antennae's nuclei will collide and become a single core with stars, gas, and dust around it. Observations and simulations of colliding galaxies (e.g., by Alar Toomre ) suggest that
308-472: The LS to other superclusters. The LS represents a typical poor (that is, lacking a high density core) supercluster of rather small size. It has one rich galaxy cluster in the center, surrounded by filaments of galaxies and poor groups. The Local Group is located on the outskirts of the LS in a small filament extending from the Fornax Cluster to the Virgo Cluster . The Virgo Supercluster's volume
330-506: The LS. It consists of two components: an appreciably flattened disk containing two thirds of the supercluster's luminous galaxies, and a roughly spherical halo containing the remaining third. The disk itself is a thin (~1 Mpc ) ellipsoid with a long axis / short axis ratio of at least 6 to 1, and possibly as high as 9 to 1. Data released in June 2003 from the 5-year Two-degree-Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dF) has allowed astronomers to compare
352-402: The Local Supercluster (LS) was actually a structure or a chance alignment of galaxies. The issue was resolved with the large redshift surveys of the late 1970s and early 1980s, which convincingly showed the flattened concentration of galaxies along the supergalactic plane. In a comprehensive 1982 paper, R. Brent Tully presented the conclusions of his research concerning the basic structure of
374-616: The Nearby Galaxies Catalog, the survey of Fouque et al., the Lyons Groups of Galaxies (LGG) Catalog, and the three group lists created from the Nearby Optical Galaxy sample of Giuricin et al. Additionally, the references above frequently but inconsistently identify PGC 37513 , PGC 37565 , and UGCA 270 as members of this group. Based on the above references, the exact membership of this group
396-584: The Pavo-Indus Supercluster, and the Fornax Group. The Great Attractor, together with the entire supercluster, is found to be moving toward Shapley Supercluster , with center of Shapley Attractor . The LS has a total mass M ≈ 10 M ☉ and a total optical luminosity L ≈ 3 × 10 L ☉ . This yields a mass-to-light ratio of about 300 times that of the solar ratio ( M ☉ / L ☉ = 1),
418-468: The collapsing and compressing clouds are believed to be the birthplace of the clusters. Five supernovae have been observed in NGC 4038. About 1.2 billion years ago, the Antennae were two separate galaxies. NGC 4038 was a barred spiral galaxy and NGC 4039 was a spiral galaxy . 900 million years ago, the Antennae began to approach one another, looking similar to NGC 2207 and IC 2163 . 600 million years ago,
440-579: The following 11 clouds, given in decreasing order of number of luminous galaxies: Canes Venatici , Virgo Cluster, Virgo II (southern extension), Leo II , Virgo III , Crater ( NGC 3672 ), Leo I , Leo Minor ( NGC 2841 ), Draco ( NGC 5907 ), Antlia ( NGC 2997 ), and NGC 5643 . Of the luminous galaxies located in the disk, one third are in the Virgo Cluster. The remainder are found in the Canes Venatici Cloud and Virgo II Cloud, plus
462-541: The order of 20–60 Mpc in diameter) voids in space. Long filamentary structures seem to predominate. An example of this is the Hydra–Centaurus Supercluster , the nearest supercluster to the Virgo Supercluster, which starts at a distance of roughly 30 Mpc and extends to 60 Mpc. Since the late 1980s it has been apparent that not only the Local Group , but all matter out to a distance of at least 50 Mpc
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#1732776865240484-445: The somewhat insignificant NGC 5643 Group . The luminous galaxies in the halo are concentrated in a small number of clouds (94% in 7 clouds). This distribution indicates that "most of the volume of the supergalactic plane is a great void." A helpful analogy that matches the observed distribution is that of soap bubbles. Flattish clusters and superclusters are found at the intersection of bubbles, which are large, roughly spherical (on
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