The constellation Pisces is one of the larger constellations and therefore shows up in the night sky as a very extensive constellation. If you want to see the constellation well, you have to wait until autumn, when it is optimally visible in the evening sky in eastern direction. For astrophotographers and stargazers it holds several wonderful objects, especially a very special group of galaxies, a so-called galaxy cluster. This cluster is named after its most prominent representative: Messier 74.
But a real visual delight is NGC 660, a so-called polar ring galaxy, which is the result of a cosmic merger. This means that two galaxies have joined together here. For a long time, it was believed that when two galaxies collide, gigantic collisions with catastrophic consequences occur, including the extinction of entire worlds. Today we know that it is completely different, which is also shown by such images as the one of NGC 660. That is why we dedicate this evening to such mergers of truly titanic proportions, before we travel on to other regions of the universe.
Credit: Stargazer Observatory – Dr. Dietmar Hager & Immo Gerber
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