Arp 86 is composed of the two galaxies NGC 7752 and NGC 7753 — NGC 7753 is the large spiral galaxy dominating this image, and NGC 7752 is its smaller companion.
The diminutive companion galaxy almost appears to be attached to NGC 7753, and it is this peculiarity that has earned the designation “Arp 86” — signifying that the galaxy pair appears in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies compiled by the astronomer Halton Arp in 1966.
The gravitational squabble between the two galaxies is doomed to end catastrophically for NGC 7752.
These observations also helped sow the seeds of future research with an upcoming space telescope, the NASA/ESA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).October 15, 2021
October 15, 2021October 15, 2021October 14, 2021