Unusual Red Arc & Other Features
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by m57ring
There is a strange red arc to the upper left of the apparently merging galaxies. There is also a faint glow to the left of the arc. The 2 largest galaxies appear to be merging or at least overlapping. There is a darker band between them which I'm assuming to be dust. There is a very faint streak (tidal debris?) from the right side of the lower galaxy towards the small bright spot beneath it.
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by ElisabethB moderator
Hi m57ring and welcome to the Zoo
There are quite a couple of things to address here ! 😄
The red line (middle top) is an artefact.
The two objects, at 2 o'clock from the empty centre, are not merging and there is no dust lane either. The round white object is a foreground star from our galaxy. The lower object is probably a disturbed galaxy.
The correct classification for this image is : star/artifact, since there is nothing in the centre of the image. Yes, the software sometimes makes mistakes ! ;DAnyway, I hope this helps !
Happy hunting ! 😄
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