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News Release 4 of 683

April 24, 2008 09:00 AM (EDT)

News Release Number: STScI-2008-16

Cosmic Collisions Galore!

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Image: Hubble Interacting Galaxy NGC 6050

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ABOUT THIS IMAGE:

NGC 6050/IC 1179 (Arp 272) is a remarkable collision between two spiral galaxies, NGC 6050 and IC 1179, and is part of the Hercules Galaxy Cluster, located in the constellation of Hercules. The galaxy cluster is part of the Great Wall of clusters and superclusters, the largest known structure in the universe. The two spiral galaxies are linked by their swirling arms. Arp 272 is located some 450 million light-years away from Earth and is the number 272 in Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.

This image is part of a large collection of 59 images of merging galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on the occasion of its 18th anniversary on 24th April 2008.

Object Names: NGC 6050, IC 1179, Arp 272

Image Type: Astronomical

Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and K. Noll (STScI)

Technical facts about this image:

About the Object

Object Name:	NGC 6050, IC 1179, Arp 272
Object Description:	Interacting Galaxies
Position (J2000):	16 05 22.97 +17 45 27.2
Constellation:	Hercules
Distance:	150 million light-years (50 million parsecs)

About the Data

Data Description:	The Hubble image was created using HST data from proposal 11095: K. Noll (STScI)
Instrument:	WFPC2
Exposure Date(s):	February 12 - 14, 2007
Exposure Time:	5 hours
Filters:	F450W (B), F555W (V), and F814W (I)