Arp 238 / UGC 8335
| Designation(s) | Arp 238, UGC 8335 |
| Object Type(s) | Galaxy |
| Relevant Catalog(s) | All (Chron), Arp |
| Arp Category | Galaxies with the appearance of fission |
| Obs. Lat/Long | 42° 17', 073° 57' |
| Constellation | Bootes |
| Date and Time Observed | 2025-07-30 22:30:00 |
| Instrument | EdgeHD 8" w/f7 reducer-1,422mm FL |
| Camera | Player One Apollo-M Mini |
| Image Details | Up is 271.3 degrees E of N. Transparency: Good. Seeing: Good. Total integration time was 29m. Exposures 15s@300g, No Filter. Dithered and recentered in SharpCap. No guiding. |
| Description | Welcome to the "Way Back Machine" where Arp suggests this target provides "the appearance of fission," i.e. looking like a single galaxy pulling itself into two. This is another example of the reluctance to suggest a merger. In part through the examples provided by Arp, the astronomy-world began to understand that mergers were common events in the evolution of most major galaxies. This is an extreme case, with the two brightest spots (apart from the two foreground stars, upper right) being nucleii of two, formerly separate galaxies, so strongly attracted that their former discs are being left behind in a long tidal wake. Arp notes the unusual "3rd arm" - this is caused by an attraction to another bright spot, in this case.a tiny dwarf galaxy. Another dwarf galaxy nucleus is embedded in the other end of the tidal trail, providing the final "knot" or bright spot. Most of this is fairly clear in my image, though interpretation become obvious if you study the Hubble image (which is cheating I suppose).. |
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