View source for Astronomy:Mice Galaxies

{{Short description|Two spiral galaxies in the constellation Coma Berenices}}
{{Infobox galaxy
| name = [[Astronomy:New General Catalogue|NGC]] 4676A / 4676B
| image = Merging galaxies NGC 4676 (captured by the Hubble Space Telescope).jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = The Mice Galaxies, NGC 4676A (right) / NGC 4676B (left)
| epoch = [[Astronomy:J2000|J2000]]
| type = Irr / SB(s)0/a pec<ref name="ned">{{cite web
 | title=NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database
 | work=Results for NGC 4676A / 4676B
 | url=http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/
 | access-date=2006-11-21 }}</ref>
| ra = {{RA|12|46|10.1}} / {{RA|12|46|11.2}}<ref name="ned"/>
| dec = {{DEC|+30|43|55}} / {{DEC|+30|43|22}}<ref name="ned"/>
| dist_ly = {{cvt|290|Mly|Mpc|lk=on}}<ref name="chien"/>
| z = 6613 ± 8 / 6607 ± 7 km/[[Second|s]]<ref name="ned"/>
| appmag_v = 14.7 / 14.4<ref name="ned"/>
| size_v = 2′.3 × 0′.7 / 2′.2 × 0′.8<ref name="ned"/>
| size = {{cvt|233|kpc|ly|lk=on|order=flip}} (estimated){{efn|name=size|The size of NGC 4676 A is 194,000 ly, while that of NGC 4676 B is 186,000 ly. This would give 380,000 ly by combining their sizes although the tail is about two times larger, giving 760,000 ly.}}
| constellation name = [[Astronomy:Coma Berenices|Coma Berenices]]
| notes = Interacting galaxies
| names = Mice Galaxies,<ref name="ned"/> [[Astronomy:Index Catalogue|IC]] 819 / 820,<ref name="ned"/> [[Astronomy:Uppsala General Catalogue|UGC]] 7938 / 7939,<ref name="ned"/>
<br>[[Astronomy:Principal Galaxies Catalogue|PGC]] 43062 / 43065,<ref name="ned"/> [[Astronomy:Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies|Arp]] 242<ref name="ned"/>
}}
'''NGC 4676''', or the '''Mice Galaxies''', are two [[Spiral galaxy|spiral galaxies]] in the [[Astronomy:Constellation|constellation]] [[Astronomy:Coma Berenices|Coma Berenices]]. About 290 million [[Astronomy:Light-year|light-year]]s distant,<ref name="chien">{{cite journal
 | first = Li-Hsin | last = Chien
 | last2 = Barnes | first2 = Joshua E.
 | last3 = Kewley | first3 = Lisa J.
 | last4 = Chambers | first4 = Kenneth, C.
 | title = Multiobject Spectroscopy of Young Star Clusters in NGC 4676
 | date = May 2007
 | journal = The Astrophysical Journal
 | volume = 660
 | issue = 2
 | pages = L105–L108
 | bibcode = 2007ApJ...660L.105C
 | doi = 10.1086/518215|arxiv = astro-ph/0703510 | s2cid = 119417388
 }}</ref> they have begun the process of colliding and merging. Their "mice" name refers to the long tails produced by [[Physics:Tidal force|tidal action]]—the relative difference between gravitational pulls on the near and far parts of each galaxy—known here as a [[Astronomy:Galactic tide|galactic tide]]. It is a possibility that both galaxies, which are members of the [[Astronomy:Coma Cluster|Coma Cluster]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Burbidge|first1=E. M.|last2=Burbidge|first2=G. R.|date=March 1961|title=NGC 4676, a Peculiar System in the Coma Cluster of Galaxies.|bibcode=1961ApJ...133..726B|journal=The Astrophysical Journal|language=en|volume=133|pages=726|doi=10.1086/147076|issn=0004-637X}}</ref> have experienced collision, and will continue colliding until they coalesce.

The colors of the galaxies are peculiar. In NGC 4676A a core with some dark markings is surrounded by a bluish white remnant of spiral arms. The tail is unusual, starting out blue and terminating in a more yellowish color, despite the fact that the beginning of each arm in virtually every spiral galaxy starts yellow and terminates in a bluish color.{{citation-needed|date=October 2023}}{{clarify|date=May 2018|reason=Which side is the "beginning" and which side is the "end"?}} NGC 4676B has a yellowish core and two arcs; arm remnants underneath are bluish as well.

The galaxies were photographed in 2002 by the [[Astronomy:Hubble Space Telescope|Hubble Space Telescope]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Hubble's New Camera Delivers Breathtaking Views of the Universe|work=HubbleSite|date=2002-04-30|url=http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2002/11/image/d|access-date=2009-05-07}}</ref> In the background of the Mice Galaxies, there are at least 3,300 galaxies, at distances up to 13 billion light-years.

==See also==
*[[Astronomy:Antennae Galaxies|Antennae Galaxies]]
*[[Astronomy:Interacting galaxy|Interacting galaxy]]
*[[Astronomy:NGC 7318|NGC 7318]]
*[[Astronomy:List of galaxies|List of galaxies]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==External links==
*{{APOD |date=12 June 2004 |title=When Mice Collide}}
*[http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/talks/ifaopen00/mice.html The Mice Galaxies]

{{Sky|12|46|10.1|+|30|43|55|290000000}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mice Galaxies}}
[[Category:Lenticular galaxies]]
[[Category:Peculiar galaxies]]
[[Category:Interacting galaxies]]
[[Category:Irregular galaxies]]
[[Category:Barred lenticular galaxies]]
[[Category:Coma Cluster]]
[[Category:Coma Berenices]]
[[Category:NGC objects]]
[[Category:IC objects]]
[[Category:UGC objects|07938]]
[[Category:Principal Galaxies Catalogue objects|43062]]
[[Category:Arp objects|242]]



{{Sourceattribution|Mice Galaxies}}