Arp 299 (parts of it also known as IC 694 and NGC 3690) is a pair of colliding galaxies approximately 134 million
light-year
A light-year, alternatively spelled light year (ly or lyr), is a unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equal to exactly , which is approximately 9.46 trillion km or 5.88 trillion mi. As defined by the International Astr ...
s away in the
constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The first constellati ...
Ursa Major
Ursa Major, also known as the Great Bear, is a constellation in the Northern Sky, whose associated mythology likely dates back into prehistory. Its Latin name means "greater (or larger) bear", referring to and contrasting it with nearby Ursa M ...
. Both of the galaxies involved in the collision are
barred irregular galaxies
A barred irregular galaxy is an irregular version of a barred spiral galaxy. They have a bar-shaped structure in the middle of an otherwise irregular shape. Examples include the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and NGC 6822, although LMC is more oft ...
. NGC 3690 was discovered by German-British astronomer
William Herschel
Frederick William Herschel ( ; ; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel. Born in the Electorate of Hanover ...
on 18 March 1790.
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It is not completely clear which object is historically called ''IC 694''. According to some sources, the small appendage more than an arcminute northwest of the main pair is actually IC 694, not the primary (eastern) companion.
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The interaction of the two galaxies in Arp 299 produced young powerful
starburst region
A starburst region is a region of space that is undergoing a large amount of star formation. A starburst is an astrophysical process that involves star formation occurring at a rate that is large compared to the rate that is typically observed. Th ...
s similar to those seen in
II Zw 96.
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Supernovae
Since 1992, fifteen
supernovae
A supernova (: supernovae or supernovas) is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. A supernova occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star, or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion. The original ob ...
have been detected in Arp 299:
See also
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Antennae Galaxies
The Antennae Galaxies (also known as NGC 4038/NGC 4039 or Caldwell 60/Caldwell 61) are a pair of interacting galaxies in the constellation Corvus. They are currently going through a starburst phase, in which the collision of clouds of gas and d ...
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Mice Galaxies
NGC 4676, or the Mice Galaxies, are two spiral galaxies in the constellation Coma Berenices. About 290 million light-years distant, they have begun the process of colliding and merging. Their "mice" name refers to the long tails produced by tidal ...
References
External links
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Interacting galaxies
Barred irregular galaxies
Peculiar galaxies
Luminous infrared galaxies
Ursa Major
3690
IC objects
299
__NOTOC__
Year 299 ( CCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and Maximian (or, less frequently, year 1052 ''Ab urbe condita''). The de ...
Markarian galaxies
Astronomical objects discovered in 1790
Discoveries by William Herschel
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