NGC 4038 (top left) and NGC 4039 (below NGC 4038) are called the Antennae, or Rat Tail, Galaxies.

They are a pair of merging galaxies located 60 million light-years away in the direction of Corvus.

Antennae Galaxies

Gigantic clouds of dust and gas in the galaxies are colliding, causing furious bursts of star formation. Two streams of stars were also ejected from the galaxies during the merger, forming the antennae or rat's tails.

The Antennae Galaxies were discovered by William Herschel in 1785.

NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 are also cataloged as Arp 244.

NGC 4027 is a curious barred spiral galaxy seen at lower right in the image at the top of the page. It is also known as Arp 22.

Its peculiar shape was probably also caused by a collision with another galaxy sometime in its past. It has been described by B. Phookun in the Astrophysical Journal as a "one-armed spiral galaxy with a warped ring." It is 83 million light-years away.

North is to the top in the above images.

NGC 4038, NGC 4039, NGC 4027 Catalogs: NGC 4038, NGC 4039, NGC 4027 Common Name: NGC 4038, NGC 4039: Antennae, Rat Tails, Ring Tails Object Type: NGC 4038: SB(s)m pec Galaxy NGC 4039: SA(s)m pec Galaxy NGC 4027: SB(s)dm Galaxy Magnitude: NGC 4038: 10.3v NGC 4039: 10.4v NGC 4027: 11.0v Size: NGC 4038: 3.4' x 1.7' NGC 4039: 3.3'x 1.7' NGC 4027: 3.3'x 2.4' Constellation: Corvus Image Field Centered At: RA: 12h 00m 50s Dec: -19° 02' 10" Individual galaxy coordinates can be found in the Master List.