NGC 4038/4039 Antennae Galaxies In Corvus Royalty-Free Stock Image

The Antennae Galaxies, also known as NGC 4038/NGC 4039 (Caldwell 60/61), are a pair of interacting galaxies in the constellation Corvus. They were discovered by William Herschel in 1785. (NGC 4038 is yellowish and NGC 4039 bluish) These interacting galaxies are less remote from the Milky Way than previously thought—at 45 million light-years. The Antennae Galaxies are undergoing a galactic collision. As gravity restructures each galaxy, clouds of gas slam into each other, bright blue knots of stars form, massive stars form and explode, and brown filaments of dust are strewn about. Five supernovae have been discovered during the last 100 years. 8-10 March 2016, LRGB image with combined exposure of 390 minutes. SBIG STT-8300 CCD Camera on Takahashi CCA-250 Astrograph, 1,250 mm. f/5 and Astro-physics 1200 GTO. Taken from Pakchong, Nakornratchasima, Thailand.