Tadpole Galaxy

Last updated
Tadpole Galaxy
UGC 10214HST.jpg
The Tadpole Galaxy recorded with the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Draco
Right ascension 16h 06m 03.9s [1]
Declination +55° 25′ 32″ [1]
Redshift 9401 ± 15 km/s [1]
Distance 400 Mly
Apparent magnitude  (V)14.4 [1]
Characteristics
Type SB(s)c pec [1]
Apparent size  (V)3.6′ × 0.8′ [1]
Notable featuresCollided galaxy
Other designations
UGC 10214, [1] Arp 188, [1] PGC 57129 [1]

The Tadpole Galaxy, also known as UGC 10214 [2] and Arp 188, [3] is a disrupted barred spiral galaxy located 420 million light-years from Earth in the northern constellation Draco. Its most dramatic feature is a trail of stars about 280,000 light-years long. Its size has been attributed to a merger with a smaller galaxy that is believed to have occurred about 100 million years ago. [4] The galaxy is filled with bright blue star clusters triggered by the merger, some containing as many as one million stars. [2] It is the largest disrupted spiral galaxy of its sort.

It is hypothesized that a more compact intruder galaxy crossed in front of the Tadpole Galaxy—from left to right from the perspective of Earth—and was slung around behind the Tadpole by their mutual gravitational attraction. During this close encounter, tidal forces drew out the spiral galaxy's stars, gases and dust, forming the conspicuous tail. The intruder galaxy, estimated to lie about 300,000 light-years behind the Tadpole, can be seen through foreground spiral arms at the upper left. Following its terrestrial namesake, the Tadpole Galaxy will likely lose its tail as it grows older; the tail's star clusters forming smaller satellites of the large spiral galaxy. [5]

Two supernovae are known to have occurred in the Tadpole Galaxy. SN 2007cu was discovered on June 27, 2007 with an apparent magnitude of 18.9, and SN 2008dq was discovered on June 25, 2008 with an apparent magnitude of 18.3. [6]

An image of the galaxy was taken by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in April 2002, containing 6000 background galaxies spanning billions of light-years. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coma Berenices</span> Constellation in the northern hemisphere

Coma Berenices is an ancient asterism in the northern sky, which has been defined as one of the 88 modern constellations. It is in the direction of the fourth galactic quadrant, between Leo and Boötes, and it is visible in both hemispheres. Its name means "Berenice's Hair" in Latin and refers to Queen Berenice II of Egypt, who sacrificed her long hair as a votive offering. It was introduced to Western astronomy during the third century BC by Conon of Samos and was further corroborated as a constellation by Gerardus Mercator and Tycho Brahe. It is the only modern constellation named for a historic person.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 82</span> Starburst galaxy the constellation Ursa Major

Messier 82 (also known as NGC 3034, Cigar Galaxy or M82) is a starburst galaxy approximately 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It is the second-largest member of the M81 Group, with the D25 isophotal diameter of 12.52 kiloparsecs (40,800 light-years). It is about five times more luminous than the Milky Way and its central region is about one hundred times more luminous. The starburst activity is thought to have been triggered by interaction with neighboring galaxy M81. As one of the closest starburst galaxies to Earth, M82 is the prototypical example of this galaxy type. SN 2014J, a type Ia supernova, was discovered in the galaxy on 21 January 2014. In 2014, in studying M82, scientists discovered the brightest pulsar yet known, designated M82 X-2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinwheel Galaxy</span> Galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

The Pinwheel Galaxy is a face-on spiral galaxy 21 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and was communicated that year to Charles Messier, who verified its position for inclusion in the Messier Catalogue as one of its final entries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whirlpool Galaxy</span> Galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici

The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51a (M51a) or NGC 5194, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus. It lies in the constellation Canes Venatici, and was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy. It is 32 million light-years away and 109,000 ly (33,280 pc) in diameter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 2403</span> Galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis

NGC 2403 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Camelopardalis. It is an outlying member of the M81 Group, and is approximately 8 million light-years distant. It bears a similarity to M33, being about 50,000 light years in diameter and containing numerous star-forming H II regions. The northern spiral arm connects it to the star forming region NGC 2404. NGC 2403 can be observed using 10×50 binoculars. NGC 2404 is 940 light-years in diameter, making it one of the largest known H II regions. This H II region represents striking similarity with NGC 604 in M33, both in size and location in galaxy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3982</span> Galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

NGC 3982, also known as UGC 6918, is an intermediate spiral galaxy approximately 68 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by William Herschel on April 14, 1789, and misclassified as a planetary nebula. NGC 3982 is a part of the M109 Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sculptor Galaxy</span> Intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor

The Sculptor Galaxy is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor. The Sculptor Galaxy is a starburst galaxy, which means that it is currently undergoing a period of intense star formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4013</span> Galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

NGC 4013 is an edge-on barred spiral galaxy about 55 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. The disk of NGC 4013 shows a distinct "peanut"-shaped bulge in long exposure photographs that N-body computer simulations suggest is consistent with a stellar bar seen perpendicular to the line of sight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 772</span> Galaxy in the constellation of Aries

NGC 772 is an unbarred spiral galaxy approximately 130 million light-years away in the constellation Aries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 2207 and IC 2163</span> Pair of colliding spiral galaxies in the constellation Canis Major

NGC 2207 and IC 2163 are a pair of colliding spiral galaxies about 80 million light-years away in the constellation Canis Major. Both galaxies were discovered by John Herschel in 1835.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5253</span> Irregular galaxy in the M83 group of galaxies

NGC 5253 is an irregular galaxy in the constellation Centaurus. It was discovered by William Herschel on 15 March 1787.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arp 220</span> Luminous infrared galaxy in the constellation Serpens

Arp 220 is the result of a collision between two galaxies which are now in the process of merging. It is the 220th object in Halton Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 7252</span> Peculiar galaxy in the constellation Aquarius

NGC 7252 is a peculiar galaxy resulting from an interaction between two galaxies that started a billion years ago. It is located 220 million light years away in the constellation Aquarius. It is also called Atoms for Peace Galaxy, a nickname which comes from its loop-like structure, made of stars, that resembles a diagram of an electron orbiting an atomic nucleus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4651</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4651 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Coma Berenices that can be seen with amateur telescopes, at a distance not well determined that ranges from 35 million light years to 72 million light years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UGC 8335</span> Pair of strongly interacting galaxies in Ursa Major

UGC 8335 is a pair of strongly interacting spiral galaxies. They have been distorted by extreme tidal forces, creating prominent tidal tails and a bridge of gas and stars between the galaxies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 2276</span> Galaxy in the constellation Cepheus

NGC 2276 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Cepheus. The galaxy lies 120 million light-years away from Earth. NGC 2276 has an asymmetrical appearance, most likely caused by gravitational interactions with its neighbor, elliptical galaxy NGC 2300. One of the many starburst spiral arms contains an intermediate mass black hole with 50,000 times the mass of the Sun, named NGC 2276-3c. NGC 2276-3c has produced two jets: a large-scale radio jet, approximately 2,000 light years long, and an "inner jet" about 6 light years long. The galaxy shows an enhanced rate of star formation that may have been triggered by a collision with a dwarf galaxy, or by the gravitational interaction with its neighbor compressing gas and dust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4490</span> Interacting galaxy in constellation Canes Venatici

NGC 4490, also known as the Cocoon Galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. William Herschel discovered it in 1788. The galaxy lies at a distance of 25 million light years from Earth. It interacts with its smaller companion NGC 4485 and as a result is a starburst galaxy. NGC 4490 and NGC 4485 are collectively known in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies as Arp 269. NGC 4490 is located 3/4° northwest of beta Canum Venaticorum and with apparent visual magnitude 9.8, can be observed with 15x100 binoculars. It is a member of the Herschel 400 Catalogue. It belongs in Canes Venatici galaxy cloud II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4424</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4424 is a spiral galaxy located in the equatorial constellation of Virgo. It was discovered February 27, 1865 by German astronomer Heinrich Louis d'Arrest. This galaxy is located at a distance of 13.5 million light years and is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of 442 km/s. It has a morphological class of SB(s)a, which normally indicates a spiral galaxy with a barred structure (SB), no inner ring feature (s), and tightly-wound spiral arms (a). The galactic plane is inclined at an angle of 62° to the line of sight from the Earth. It is a likely member of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 2623</span> Interacting galaxy in the constellation Cancer

NGC 2623/Arp 243 is an interacting galaxy located in the constellation Cancer. NGC 2623 is the result of two spiral galaxies that have merged. Scientists believe that this situation is similar to what will occur to the Milky Way, which contains the Solar System, and the neighboring galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy in four billion years. Studying this galaxy and its properties have provided scientists with a better idea of the coming collision of the Milky Way and the Andromeda. Due to NGC 2623 being in the late stage of merging, the compression of the gas within the galaxy has led to a large amount of star formation, and to its unique structure of a bright core with two extending tidal tails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3656</span> Peculiar galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

NGC 3656 is a peculiar galaxy formed by the collision of two galaxies in the constellation of Ursa Major. It is located about 135 million light years away from Earth, which means, given its apparent dimensions, that NGC 3656 is approximately 70,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on April 14, 1789.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for Tadpole Galaxy. Retrieved 2006-11-06.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Tadpole Galaxy: Distorted Victim of Cosmic Collision". HubbleSite.org. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  3. ↑ "The Tadpole Galaxy from Hubble". Science Mission Directorate . Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  4. ↑ Tadpole Galaxy | StarDate Online
  5. ↑ "Arp 188 and the Tadpole's Tidal Tail". Astronomy Picture of the Day. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  6. ↑ "List of Supernovae". CBAT . Retrieved 2022-12-23.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.