Some galaxies gave relatively orderly shapes, but others like Arp 230 feature the Dr. Halton ‘s “Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies”
Halton Christian "Chip" Arp (March 21, 1927 – December 28, 2013) was an American astronomer. He was known for his 1966 Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, which (it was later realized) catalogues many examples of interacting and merging galaxies.
Arp realized that astronomers understood little about how galaxies change over time, which led him to work on this project. This atlas was intended to provide images that would give astronomers data from which they could study the evolution of galaxies.
Based on its citation by other astronomers, Arp's atlas is recognized now as an excellent compilation of interacting and merging galaxies. Many objects in the atlas are primarily referred to by their Arp number.
Arp 230 is one such galaxy, a 80 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus. It is isolated with no nearby dwarfs or companions. It has the mass of nearly 9 billion suns and can be seen above in infrared and optical wavelengths by Hubble.
The peculiar shape of the galaxy strongly suggests that it is the result of a head-on collision between two spiral galaxies.
That collision would have taken place approximately 100 million years ago. This was the middle of Cretaceous Period on earth, when Tyrannosaurus Rex was roaming the earth.
The collision would have led to a burst of star formation which is now fading or over. Its appearance now suggests that it is slowly becoming an elliptical galaxy, providing evidence that elliptical galaxies are the result of mergers.
Halton Christian "Chip" Arp (March 21, 1927 – December 28, 2013) was an American astronomer. He was known for his 1966 Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, which (it was later realized) catalogues many examples of interacting and merging galaxies.
Arp realized that astronomers understood little about how galaxies change over time, which led him to work on this project. This atlas was intended to provide images that would give astronomers data from which they could study the evolution of galaxies.
Based on its citation by other astronomers, Arp's atlas is recognized now as an excellent compilation of interacting and merging galaxies. Many objects in the atlas are primarily referred to by their Arp number.
Arp 230 is one such galaxy, a 80 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus. It is isolated with no nearby dwarfs or companions. It has the mass of nearly 9 billion suns and can be seen above in infrared and optical wavelengths by Hubble.
The peculiar shape of the galaxy strongly suggests that it is the result of a head-on collision between two spiral galaxies.
That collision would have taken place approximately 100 million years ago. This was the middle of Cretaceous Period on earth, when Tyrannosaurus Rex was roaming the earth.
The collision would have led to a burst of star formation which is now fading or over. Its appearance now suggests that it is slowly becoming an elliptical galaxy, providing evidence that elliptical galaxies are the result of mergers.