NGC 6240

NGC 6240 is an irregular galaxy in the constellation Ophiuchus, and is about 400 million light-years away from Earth. Exceptional in this galaxy is that there are two active black holes at their hearts, who have come together by the collision of two smaller galaxies in the new galactic nucleus.

The two black holes emit a large amount of X-rays and circling at a distance of 3,000 light- years around each other until they will merge in a few hundred million years.

Since the collision of the two original galaxies only about 30 million years ago, NGC 6240 shows a typical starburst galaxy. Because of the relative permeability of the existing dust in the galaxy for the infrared light of the young stars NGC 6240 is an ultra -luminous infrared galaxy ( ULIRG ), which can be easily observed with the Spitzer infrared telescope.

Figure the galaxy NGC 6240 from data of Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes.

Discovery

The galaxy NGC 6240 was discovered on July 12, 1871 by the French astronomer Édouard Jean -Marie Stephan.

Swell

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