ESA Portal - Antennae galaxies’ fertile marriage

Media Centre

Press Releases ESA Television Launch Media Corner Exhibitions

Services

Calendar Publications Frequently asked questions ESA-sponsored Conferences Help Site Credits Portal terms of use Comments RSS feeds

Antennae galaxies’ fertile marriage

17 October 2006

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 6092 kb)

This Hubble image of the Antennae galaxies is the sharpest yet of this merging pair of galaxies. As the two galaxies smash together, thousands of millions of stars are born, mostly in groups and clusters of stars. The brightest and most compact of these are called super star clusters.

Credits: NASA, ESA, and B. Whitmore (Space Telescope Science Institute)

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 385 kb)

This photo of the Antennae galaxies was taken with one of the NOAO telescopes from the ground.

Credits: NOAO/AURA/NSF, B. Twardy, B. Twardy, and A. Block (NOAO)

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES AVI (Size: 120 000 kb)

Panning on the Antennae Galaxy, as viewed by the Hubble Space Telescope. The 'stellar fireworks' contain brilliant young clusters of tens of thousands of stars.

Orange blobs to the left and right of center are the two cores of the original galaxies, criss-crossed by dark filaments of dust seen in silhouette. Brilliant blue star clusters, born in the collision, pepper the galaxies. Pinkish glowing hydrogen gas identify star birth regions glowing under the intense energy from newborn stars.

Credits: ESA/Hubble (Martin Kornmesser)

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES JPEG (Size: 7593 kb)

This ground-based photo shows a wide angle view of the constellation Corvus and part of contellation Hydra. The Antennae galaxies is located in the southern constellation of Corvus.

Credits: NASA, ESA, Z. Levay (STScI) and A. Fujii

Back to article

Download:

HI-RES AVI (Size: 188 000 kb)

Zooming through the nighttime sky into the constellation Corvus the crow, deeper into the Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys image of the Antennae galaxies. The 'stellar fireworks' contain brilliant young clusters of tens of thousands of stars.

More about...

So, how did everything start?Hubble overview

Flies in a spider’s web: galaxy caught in the making Hubble confirms that planets form from disks around stars Hubble finds 16 candidate extrasolar planets far across our Galaxy Hubble finds hundreds of young galaxies in the early Universe Planet or failed star? One of smallest stellar companions seen by Hubble Hubble sees faintest stars in a globular cluster Hubble captures a 'quintuple' quasar Hubble provides spectacular view of ongoing comet break-up Hubble’s view of Cigar Galaxy on sixteenth mission anniversary