Evrim Yazgin
Cosmos science journalist
In a week of macabre astronomy including a new study of the “dark wolf nebula”, more ghoulish observations have been reported.
A pair of galaxies dubbed “blood-soaked eyes” has been analysed by NASA’s Hubble and James Webb space telescopes to better understand the physics of the colliding galaxies and their rapid star formation.
The pair of galaxies earned their macabre moniker because they resemble a fleshless face with harrowing eyes covered in blood.
But their scientific designations are much more tame. One galaxy is called IC 2163, and the other is NGC 2207.
The galaxies are about 80 million light-years away and sit in the constellation Canis Major.
IC 2163 is the smaller of the two galaxies, at about 26.88 kiloparsecs (kpc) in diameter. It is a barred spiral galaxy, like our home the Milky Way and also about the same size.
NGC 2207 is larger at about 37.84kpc across.
The galaxies have only grazed each other so far. Over many millions of years, they will probably dance around each other a few more times before their spiral arms merge and they form a central “cyclops eye”.
Their slow-motion collision has resulted in a “light scrape” where material has slammed together causing shock waves. This can be seen in the “eyelids” of the blood-soaked face.
Both galaxies have high star formation rates. In a single year, they produce the equivalent of about 25 new stars the size of the Sun. The Milky Way only produces about 2 or 3.
Star formation will slow once they collide and their stores of gas and dust deplete.
Combining the UV and visible light data from Hubble with the infrared observations of Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) has led to an unprecedented level of detail. Not only does this provide a stunning view of the bloody galactic pair, it will also aid in research about the dynamics of the galaxies as they merge.
You can see a comparison of the Hubble and MIRI images on the NASA press release here.
