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Interacting galaxies · evidence and sources

NGC 6240

A tangled merger displays dark dust lanes and faint, disturbed tidal structures.

Also known as IC 4625, NGC 6240 merger.

Catalog Position basis, the same label the app shows on the selection card.

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Every aspect, with its origin

One record per aspect. The origin says what kind of thing each value is; the source says where it came from; the limit says what it cannot tell you.

ObservedCatalogComputedReconstructedIllustrativeUndocumented
Position Catalog

Registered image field

J2000 image-field center RA 16.9 h, Dec 2.4°. Field 2.5 × 1.6 arcminutes; north -74.6° right of vertical.

SourceHubble ACS and WFC3
EpochJ2000
LimitThe image field center is not necessarily a galaxy nucleus.
Physical data Catalog

Adopted distance

Approximately 400,000,000 light-years.

SourcePublished distance context
LimitAn approximate reference distance; distances to individual points within the image are not supplied by the observation.
Appearance Reconstructed

Observation-derived appearance

The Hubble optical and near-infrared composite reveals the disturbed merger. Its central black holes are not directly resolved in this image, and no unique merger trajectory is implied. Projected structure follows the credited observation at its published angular scale and an approximate adopted distance. Shallow depth is illustrative, not measured tomography. The source palette is preserved; brightness is adjusted for the navigable view.

SourceNASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)

What is not measured

  • Appearance: a reconstruction from measurements, not a direct observation. Observation-derived appearance. The Hubble optical and near-infrared composite reveals the disturbed merger. Its central black holes are not directly resolved in this image, and no unique merger trajectory is implied. Projected structure follows the credited observation at its published angular scale and an approximate adopted distance. Shallow depth is illustrative, not measured tomography. The source palette is preserved; brightness is adjusted for the navigable view.

Sources cited

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