Astronomy

In ESO's La Silla Observatory, two contrasting galaxies were shown: NGC 1316 and NGC 1317. Both of these galaxies, even though very close to each other, share different histories. NGC 1316, the bigger galaxy has engulfed galaxies while NGC 1317 has had a very rough history. NGC 1316 is believed to have engulfed a dust-rich spiral galaxy because it has strange dust lanes and small globular star clusters. Very faint tidal tails have also been found within the galaxy. The tidal tails mean that the stars have been ripped off from their original location. This is what happens when a galaxy comes very close to another galaxy.


NGC 1316 is located 60 million light-years away from Earth. It resides in the southern constellation of Fornax and also takes the name because it is the brightest source of radio emission in that area. It is actually the fourth brightest radio emission in the night sky. The radio emission is steered by the material that is falling into the black hole. Because of several contacts with other galaxies, most likely it has extra fuel.






Sources:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140402095846.htm
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0809/ngc1316_pugh.jpg