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Back ALMA's view of two merging galaxies in the early Universe

ALMA's view of two merging galaxies in the early Universe


Date: 12 November 2017
Copyright: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); D. Riechers et al. 2017

This image shows two merging galaxies in the ADFS-27 system as viewed by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The galaxies, each roughly as massive as our Milky Way, were informally dubbed the 'Horse' (top) and the 'Dragon' (bottom).

Astronomers first identified ADFS-27 by scrutinising several hundred thousand galaxies observed by ESA's Herschel Space Observatory and combining them with follow-up data gathered with the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX).

Later, the high-resolution ALMA observations revealed that the system consists not just of one ancient, massive galaxy, but of a pair of distinct massive galaxies about to merge.

More details in the composite image and video.

Last Update: 1 September 2019
19-Aug-2026 21:32 UT

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