Galactic Quartet

A quartet of interacting galaxies is captured in this observation from Gemini South, which is one of the twin telescopes of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab. The four galaxies in this image are collectively known as NGC 6845, and lie roughly 270 million light-years from Earth in a constellation named, appropriately, Telescopium. This constellation is one of a handful named after scientific instruments rather than animals or mythological figures.

The galaxies in NGC 6845 come in two varieties: the pair of galaxies at the top of this image are well-defined spiral galaxies whereas the two below them are disk-shaped lenticular galaxies. Connecting the galaxies is evidence of star-forming regions and filaments made of stars detached from their original galaxies. Being relatively close neighbors, the galaxies in NGC 6845 are interacting. These gravitational interactions are subtly distorting the galaxies in NGC 6845, and astronomers believe that the two spiral galaxies will eventually evolve into lenticular galaxies.