This new image from ESA's Euclid Space Telescope shows two large galaxies: NGC 646 and NGC 646b. They look like neighbors, but they are actually about 45 million light years apart.
This Euclidean image shows the barred spiral galaxy NGC 646 and the smaller, fainter, rounder galaxy NGC 646b. Image credit: ESA / Euclid / Euclid Consortium / NASA / M. Schirmer, MPIA / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.
NGK 646 located approximately 392 million light years away in the constellation Hydra.
This barred spiral galaxy was discovered November 2, 1834 British astronomer John Herschel.
Also known as ESO 80-2, IRAS 01357-6508 or LEDA 6010, it is moving away from us at a speed of about 8145 km per second.
“In this Euclidean image, NGC 646 appears close to the smaller galaxy on the left called PGK 6014 (NGC 646b),” members of the Euclid Consortium said in a statement.
“They look like neighbors, but they are actually about 45 million light-years apart, and PGC 6014 is 347 million light-years away.”
“So any gravitational interaction between them, if it existed, would be very weak and short-lived.”
By the end of 2026, ESA and the Euclid Consortium will publish the first year of observations covering about 1,900 square degrees of sky (approximately 14% of the total survey area).
These images will show hundreds of thousands of galaxies in great detail.
They will also provide new insights into how galaxies form and evolve, and why barred galaxies are becoming more common as the Universe ages.
“NGC 646 is actually quite close compared to the billions of galaxies that Euclid will observe during its six-year mission,” the astronomers said.
