Galaxy Zoo Talk

Collision between galaxies

  • Desideria1983 by Desideria1983

    Two principle galaxies plus one satellit galaxy are colliding evidently between them, like ouer Milky Way and M31in the futur time of ~20,000,000 of years. Peraphs, if we studing that objects we could undestand the future of the our Milky Way.

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  • KWillett by KWillett scientist, admin, translator

    Studying merging galaxies (like M31 and the Milky Way) are definitely one of the fascinating topics we can learn about from Galaxy Zoo data!

    In this particular case, the object on the left is actually a star in our own Milky Way galaxy; this is a chance alignment on the sky which makes them look like they're closer together. You can often guess if something's a star from its small size and brightness (like in this image); I confirmed it by clicking on the "Galaxy Zoo examine" link under the image and seeing that the telescope survey identified the left object as a star, based on the shape of the light profile.

    Thanks for the comment!

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