Overlap or merger?
-
Initially I thought this was a merger.
Later I had a closer look.
The galaxy with the dustlane doesn't look disturbed.
The nucleus of the spiral galaxy doesn't look like it is being pulled apart.
However, there may be some starforming areas to the right of the spiral galaxy.
And what about the arc/line at the top of the picture. Did it belong to the spiral galaxy?
I don't know what to make of it. I am more inclined to say overlap now.
Posted
-
Looks like an overlap to me. However the common idea for these is that it's either an overlap or merger. The line is more fine than that. Often in these cases, it's actually quite likely they are related somewhat, but just with more distance between them than it appears to us.
Posted
-
by
Capella05
moderator
#UGC 339 - clearly a confusing one!
I would personally go with overlap (and yes, moderators are allowed to disagree with each other 😉 ) - as I am still trying to track down either redshift or photo-z for both galaxies.
As Alpha Aurigae mentioned, the dust lane is fairly undisturbed, but without more data / analysis, best to err on the side of caution 😃
Posted
