Atomic Gas in the 'Atoms for Peace' Galaxy

https://www.nrao.edu/archives/plugins/Dropbox/files/n7252RGB_hi.jpg

Description

A composite image of the optical light (green), star forming regions (yellow and pink), and cold atomic hydrogen gas (blue) in the well known merger remnant NGC 7252, the "Atoms for Peace" galaxy. The nickname of this object derives from its optical appearance, specifically the pair of tidal tails (reminiscent of a peace sign) and the loops of material surrounding the optical body (reminiscent of early depictions of an atom). This system is the result of two spiral galaxies which collided and merged into a single object. The atomic hydrogen observations, taken with the VLA in its C- and D-array configurations, show the tidal tails to be rich in gas, confirming the gas-rich nature of the progenitor disks. They also show the inner regions to be relatively free of cold atomic gas. These observations support the idea that two gas-rich disk galaxies can merge together to form a circular gas-poor object similar to an early-type galaxy.
VLA C+D array observations with a resolution of 27"x16". Optical image is B-band image taken by P. Guhathakurta with the CTIO 4m telescope. The continuum subtracted Halpha image was taken using the KPNO 2.1m telescope.

Creator

Legacy Astronomical Images

Rights

NRAO/AUI/NSF does not hold full copyright for this image. Contact the archivist for details.

Type

Legacy Astronomical Image

Object Name

NGC7252

Photo Credit

J. Hibbard & J. van Gorkom

Investigators

J. Hibbard, J. van Gorkom

Telescope

Very Large Array (VLA)

Observation Date

1989-12-12

Type of Observation

spectral line

Wavelength

21 cm

Frequency

1420.4 MHz

Species

HI

Center of Image

RA 22:17:53.200, Dec: -24:54:26.000 (B1950)

Field of View

0.210000 x 0.125000 degrees

Link to journal article

Notes

Contact the archivist for a high resolution tif of this image.

Series

Galaxies Series

Unit

Peculiar Unit

Citation

Legacy Astronomical Images, “Atomic Gas in the 'Atoms for Peace' Galaxy,” NRAO/AUI Archives, accessed March 28, 2024, https://www.nrao.edu/archives/items/show/33558.