Hubble
Interacting Galaxy II Zw 96
Interacting Galaxies
RA 20h 57m 23.5s Dec 17° 7' 34.6"
Delphinus
450 million light-years (150 million parsecs)
15.2
0.2 arcmin
April 14, 2002
33 minutes
F435W (B) and F814W (I)
NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and A. Evans (U of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)
April 24, 2008
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ABOUT
THIS IMAGE:
Zw II 96 is a system of merging galaxies with a bizarre shape. Powerful young starburst regions hang as long threadlike structures between the main galaxy cores. The system almost qualifies as an ultra-luminous system, but has not yet reached the late stage of coalescence that is the norm for most ultra-luminous systems. Zw II 96 is located in the constellation of Delphinus, the Dolphin, about 500 million light-years away from Earth.
This image is part of a large collection of 59 images of merging galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on the occasion of its 18th anniversary on 24th April 2008.