Cosmoview Episode 72: Gemini South Captures Cosmic ‘Cotton Candy’

Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, captures the billion-year-old aftermath of a double spiral galaxy collision. At the heart of this chaotic interaction, entwined and caught in the midst of the chaos, is a pair of supermassive black holes — the closest such pair ever recorded from Earth.

Credit:

International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA 

Image and Videos: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), J. Miller (International Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab), J. Pollard

Music: Stellardrone — In Time

About the Video

Id:noirlab2329b
Release date:Oct. 25, 2023, 11 a.m.
Related releases:noirlab2329
Duration:49 s
Frame rate:29.97

About the Object


Ultra HD (info)