Galactic unraveling


Team ShaRA, taken from the Chilescope remote observatory in the Atacama Desert

NGC 3169 (left) and NGC 3166 (right) are a pair of galaxies in Sextans whose gravitational interactions are destroying their spiral structure. This image also shows the distinct tidal tails arcing around NGC 3169. The roughly 17 hours of LRGB exposure for this image were taken on a 1-meter scope and processed individually by the 15 members of Team ShaRA. The individual results were then weighted in a combined “superstack” according to the results of a vote among the team members.