Merging Galaxy Pair NGC 4568 & NGC 4567 | Gemini North Telescope

Merging Galaxy Pair NGC 4568 & NGC 4567 | Gemini North Telescope

This image from the Gemini North telescope in Hawai‘i reveals a pair of interacting spiral galaxies—NGC 4568 (bottom) and NGC 4567 (top)—as they begin to clash and merge. The galaxies will eventually form a single elliptical galaxy in around 500 million years.

Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/National Science Foundation (NSF)/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF's NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF's NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab) & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)

Release Date: August 9, 2022

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