Hubble Interacting Galaxy IC 1623 (2008-04-24)
IC 1623 is an interacting galaxy system that is very bright when observed in the infrared. One of the two galaxies, the infrared-bright, but optically obscured galaxy VV 114E, has a substantial amount of warm and dense gas. Warm and dense gas is also found in the overlap region connecting the two nuclei. Observations further support the notion that IC 1623 is approaching the final stage of its merger, when a violent central inflow of gas will trigger intense starburst activity that could boost the infrared luminosity above the ultra-luminous threshold. The system will likely evolve into a compact starburst system similar to Arp 220. IC 1623 is located about 300 million light-years away from Earth.
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.
About the object | |
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Object name | IC 1623, IC 1623A/B, Arp 236, VV 114 |
Object description | Interacting Galaxies |
Position (J2000) | 01 07 47.39 -17 30 23.7 |
Constellation | Cetus |
Distance | 250 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) | July 11, 2002 |
Exposure time | 33 minutes |
Filters | F435W (B) and F814W (I) |
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This file is in the public domain because it was created by NASA and ESA. NASA Hubble material (and ESA Hubble material prior to 2009) is copyright-free and may be freely used as in the public domain without fee, on the condition that only NASA, STScI, and/or ESA is credited as the source of the material. This license does not apply if ESA material created after 2008 or source material from other organizations is in use. The material was created for NASA by Space Telescope Science Institute under Contract NAS5-26555, or for ESA by the Hubble European Space Agency Information Centre. Copyright statement at hubblesite.org or 2008 copyright statement at spacetelescope.org. For material created by the European Space Agency on the spacetelescope.org site since 2009, use the {{ESA-Hubble}} tag. |
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IC 1623IC 1623 = Arp 236 ist ein wechselwirkendes Galaxienpaar im Sternbild Walfisch südlich des Himmelsäquator, das schätzungsweise 269 Millionen Lichtjahre von der Milchstraße entfernt ist. Das System befindet sich im Endstadium der Verschmelzung. .. weiterlesen