NGC 4567 and NGC 4568
| NGC 4567 and NGC 4568 | |
|---|---|
The Butterfly Galaxies with NGC 4567 (top) and NGC 4568 (bottom) | |
| Observation data (J2000.0 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Virgo |
| Right ascension | 12h 36m 34.3s |
| Declination | +11° 14′ 17″ |
| Distance | 62 Mly (19.1 Mpc) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | +10.9 |
| Absolute magnitude (V) | -13.3 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | SA(rs)bc / SA(rs)bc |
| Apparent size (V) | 4.6′ × 2.1′ |
| Notable features | colliding galaxies |
| Other designations | |
| NGC 4567/8, UGC 7776/7, PGC 42064/9, VV 219, KPG 347, Butterfly Galaxies, Siamese Twin Galaxies, Siamese Twins Galaxies, Siamese Twins | |
NGC 4567 and NGC 4568 (nicknamed the Butterfly Galaxies or Siamese Twins) are a set of unbarred spiral galaxies about 60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. They were both discovered by William Herschel in 1784. They are part of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies.
These galaxies are in the process of colliding and merging with each other, as studies of their distributions of neutral and molecular hydrogen show, with the highest star-formation activity in the part where they overlap. However, the system is still in an early phase of interaction. In about 500 million years the galaxies will coalesce into a single elliptical galaxy.