* Astronomy

In what appears to be a masterful illusion, astronomers at Gemini Observatory have imaged two nearly identical spiral galaxies in Virgo, 90 million light years distant, in the early stages of a gentle gravitational embrace. The new image was obtained at the Gemini South telescope in Chile using GMOS, the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph.
Like two skaters grabbing hands while passing, NGC 5427  and its southern twin NGC 5426, are in the throes of a slow but disturbing interaction one that could take a hundred million years to complete.

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