Capturing galaxy collisions on a cosmic scale on camera

Astrophotographer Greg Meyer captured the scene of a cosmic collision taking place in the direction of Corvus. The 'Antennae Galaxies' he photographed are astronomical objects that show the process of two spiral galaxies merging into one huge elliptical galaxy over hundreds of millions of years.

This Deep Space image contains a moment of chaos created by two galaxies named NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, attracted by each other's gravity. Meyer said, "The Skywatcher Esprit 120 telescope with a focal length of 840 mm is a bit short to capture most galaxies," but he said, "I couldn't give up on an object with this amazing story of two galaxies colliding."

The secret of the 'tidal tail' that resembles an insect's antennae

Maier's image clearly captured the cores of two galaxies glowing orange and yellow amidst swirls of interstellar dust, gas, and stars. What is particularly eye-catching is a pair of 'Tidal Tails' that extend for several light years on either side. It is in the form of a spiral arm stretched by gravitational interaction, and looks like an insect's antennae, earning it the nickname 'antenna galaxy'.

This cosmic tug-of-war triggered explosive star formation. According to NASA, 'Super Star Clusters' are forming within giant antenna-shaped arm structures. About 90% of these are expected to disperse once the galaxy merger is complete and stabilized, but some are expected to survive as globular clusters.

The result of 21 hours of observation

Meyer collected light data using various astronomical filters over about 21 hours at the Starfront Observatory located in Rockwood, Texas, USA. The data collected in this way was edited through PixInsight, an astrophotography software, Adobe Photoshop, and Lightroom to create the final image.

The current period is called 'Galaxy Season' and is a good time to observe various external galaxies in the Northern Hemisphere. The Antenna Galaxy is continuing the process of merging on a cosmic time scale at a distance of about 45 million light years.