The Eyes Galaxies, also known as Arp 120, are a pair of interacting galaxies located in the Virgo Cluster. The galaxies lie at an approximate distance of 52 million light years from Earth and have an apparent magnitude of 10. Their designations in the New General Catalogue are NGC 4435 and NGC 4438.
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The Siamese Twins, also known as the Butterfly Galaxies, are a pair of colliding unbarred spiral galaxies located in Virgo constellation. The galaxies lie at a distance of 59.4 million light years and are members of the Virgo Cluster. They have an apparent magnitude of 10.9 and an absolute magnitude of -13.3. The galaxies’ designations in the New General Catalogue are NGC 4567 and NGC 4568.
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The Antennae Galaxies, also known as the Ringtail Galaxy or Arp 244, are a pair of colliding galaxies located in Corvus constellation. The interacting spiral galaxies have the designations NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 in the New General Catalogue.
The galaxy collision resembles an insect’s antennae, which is how the pair got the name. The “antennae” are formed by two long tails of stars, dust and gas expelled from the galaxies as a result of their interaction.
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The Cigar Galaxy, also known as Messier 82 (M82), is a famous nearby starburst galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major.
M82 appears edge-on when seen from Earth. It has five times the luminosity of the Milky Way and lies at an approximate distance of 11.5 million light years. The galaxy’s designation in the New General Catalogue is NGC 3034. The galaxy was a site of a type Ia supernova in January 2014.
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The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51 (M51) and NGC 5194, is a grand-design spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici. The galaxy appears face-on when seen from Earth. Its designation in the New General Catalogue is NGC 5194. The galaxy lies about 23 million light years from Earth. It was named the Whirlpool because of its swirling spiral structure.
The Whirlpool Galaxy is one of the brightest and most famous galaxies in the night sky, notable for its two striking spiral arms that make M51 a grand design galaxy. The spiral arms are really lanes of stars and starburst regions interspersed with dust. They compress hydrogen gas and are responsible for creating new clusters of stars.
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