Taffy Galaxies / UGC 12914/5
| Name | Taffy Galaxies |
| Designation(s) | UGC 12914, UGC 12915 |
| Object Type(s) | Galaxy |
| Relevant Catalog(s) | All (Chron) |
| Obs. Lat/Long | 42° 17', 073° 57' |
| Constellation | Pegasus |
| Date and Time Observed | 2025-09-18 22:47:00 |
| Instrument | EdgeHD 8" w/f7 reducer-1,422mm FL |
| Camera | Player One Apollo-M Mini |
| Image Details | Up is 262.8 degrees E of N. Transparency: Fair. Seeing: Good. Total integration time was 1 hour. Exposures 15s@300g, No Filter. Dithered and recentered in SharpCap. No guiding. |
| Description | In the middle of the evening I had some time to kill until other objects rose high enough. Checked out Sky Safari and found this target on the "Best DSO" list. They're right, it is. Loved what I saw and stayed on it for an hour. Current theory is these two galaxies passed through each other and what we're seeing is the post merger separation. Besides the lower right spiral arms on each galaxy bending towards each other, there is a distinct connection between the nuclei which one astronomer described as a stretching like a taffy machine. It's faintly visible in my image, especially inverted, but is reportedly extremely bright in radio frequencies. |
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