Astronomy Picture of the Day ·
The Supermassive Black Holes of NGC 6240
The Astronomy Picture of the Day for November 28, 2002 is “The Supermassive Black Holes of NGC 6240,” an image. It is credited to Credit: Optical: R.P.van der Marel & J.Gerssen ( STScI ), NASA ; X-ray: S.Komossa & G.Hasinger ( MPE ) et al., CXC , NASA. The original explanation runs about 174 words.
From the explanation
“The Hubble optical image on the left shows NGC 6240 in the throes of a titanic galaxy – galaxy collision 400 million light-years away. As the cosmic catastrophe plays out, the merging galaxies spew forth distorted tidal tails of stars, gas, and dust and undergo frantic bursts of star formation.”
— APOD editors, November 28, 2002
Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov
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At a glance
- Date
- November 28, 2002
- Type
- Image
- Credit
- Credit: Optical: R.P.van der Marel & J.Gerssen ( STScI ), NASA ; X-ray: S.Komossa & G.Hasinger ( MPE ) et al., CXC , NASA
- Copyright
- No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
- Explanation length
- About 174 words