SDSSCGB 10189
Hubble Space Telescope image of SDSSCGB 10189
Observation data
Constellation	Boötes
Right ascension	230.50 degrees
Declination	50.17 degrees
Redshift	0.074000
Heliocentric radial velocity	21,310 km/s
Distance	1.045 Gly (320.4 M pc)
Notable features	Interacting galaxies
Other designations
SDSSCGB 10189, IRAS 15205+5021, MLCG 1320, 2MASS J15220252+5010189, 2MASX J15220246+5010185, PGC 84569, NVSS J152201+5010030, SBS 1520+503, SDSS J152201.60+501028.6

SDSSCGB 10189 is a trio of interacting galaxies that is located in the constellation of Boötes. ^[1] They are located 1.04 billion light-years away from the Solar System ^[2] and are gravitationally interacting. ^[3]

Characteristics

The three galaxies involved in the interaction, are PGC 84569 or known as SBS 1520+503 and IRAS 15205+5021, ^[4] 2MASX J15220246+5010185 or PGC 3845255 ^[5] and SDSS J152202.25+501027.9 or PGC 4530597. ^[6] All of them have distorted appearances with strands of dust and gas running between them. ^[7] It is also likely that their interactions cause periods of extreme star formation thus making it into an luminous infrared galaxy. ^[8] SDSSCGB 10189 is set on a collision course, in which the result will be a single larger galaxy. ^[7]

This trio is an exceptionally rare combination in the close proximity of each of the galaxies to one another: they are lying only 50,000 light-years apart from one another to the point they are considered close galactic neighbors. ^[7] To the left of the interacting trio, a foreground dimmer spiral galaxy called PGC 2365567 ^[9] is located which appears to float serenely along the collision. ^[7]

This observation was conducted to help astronomers understand the origin of massive galaxies. They are called brightest cluster galaxies and suspected they can be formed through merging of large gas-rich galaxies. ^[7] By looking at SDSSCGB 10189, it shows how galaxies undergo changes through merging and transform over time from disk galaxies to spheroids. ^{[10] [11]}

References