EMBARGOED For Release 2:00 p.m., EDT, Thursday, May 10, 2007

Images from computer simulation of the collision of NGC 5291 with another galaxy 360 million years ago. Numbers are millions of years, with the collision time as zero. This simulation shows the collision causing material from the spiral galaxy to be ejected outward into a ring-like structure similar to that seen in the telescopic images below. The recycled dwarf galaxies are the red-purple objects in the ejected material.
Click on image for larger file (127 KB).
CREDIT: F. Bournaud et al., CEA-CCRT.

Left: Composite radio/optical/ultraviolet image of NGC 5291 and its surroundings, including the debris propelled outward by collision with another galaxy. Blue is atomic Hydrogen observed with the VLA; white is optical; red is ultraviolet (Galex satellite). Red labels mark the dwarf galaxies studied in this research.
Right: Detail of image produced by computer simulation of the galactic collision, showing debris ring and condensations that became star-forming dwarf galaxies.
Click on image for larger file (382 KB).
CREDIT: P-A Duc, CEA-CNRS/NRAO/AUI/NSF/NASA.

Composite multiwavelength image without labels.
Click on image for large file (389 KB).

MOVIE of computer-simulated galaxy collision.

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Modified on Friday, 04-May-2007 17:26:51 EDT