page_title: NGC 3921
hierarchical_section_title: NGC 3921
caption_attribution_description: English: It is known today that merging galaxies play a large role in the evolution of galaxies and the formation of elliptical galaxies in particular. However there are only a few merging systems close enough to be observed in depth. The pair of interacting galaxies picture seen here — known as NGC 3921 — is one of these systems. NGC 3921 — found in the constellation of Ursa Major (The Great Bear) — is an interacting pair of disc galaxies in the late stages of its merger. Observations show that both of the galaxies involved were about the same mass and collided about 700 million years ago. You can see clearly in this image the disturbed morphology, tails and loops characteristic of a post-merger. The clash of galaxies caused a rush of star formation and previous Hubble observations showed over 1000 bright, young star clusters bursting to life at the heart of the galaxy pair.
context_page_description: NGC 3921 is an interacting galaxy in the northern constellation of Ursa Major. Estimates using redshift put the galaxy at about 59 million light years away. It was discovered on 14 April 1789 by William Herschel, and it was described as "pretty faint, small, round" by John Louis Emil Dreyer, the compiler of the New General Catalogue.
  NGC 3921 is the remnant of a galaxy merger. The two progenitor galaxies are thought to have been disk galaxies that collided about 700 million years ago. The image shows noticeable star formation and structures like loops, indicative of galaxies interacting. Because of this, NGC 3921 was included in Halton Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies under the designation Arp 224.
  Being a starburst galaxy, NGC 3921 has important features. One of them is an ultraluminous X-ray source, designated X-2, with an X-ray luminosity of 8×10³⁹ erg/s. Additionally, two candidates globular clusters have been detected within NGC 3921. They are both fairly young, and are about half as massive as Omega Centauri: this demonstrates that mergers of gas-rich galaxies can also create more metal-rich globular clusters.
context_section_description: NGC 3921 is an interacting galaxy in the northern constellation of Ursa Major. Estimates using redshift put the galaxy at about 59 million light years (18 megaparsecs) away. It was discovered on 14 April 1789 by William Herschel, and it was described as "pretty faint, small, round" by John Louis Emil Dreyer, the compiler of the New General Catalogue.
  NGC 3921 is the remnant of a galaxy merger. The two progenitor galaxies are thought to have been disk galaxies that collided about 700 million years ago. The image shows noticeable star formation and structures like loops, indicative of galaxies interacting. Because of this, NGC 3921 was included in Halton Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies under the designation Arp 224.
  Being a starburst galaxy, NGC 3921 has important features. One of them is an ultraluminous X-ray source, designated X-2, with an X-ray luminosity of 8×10³⁹ erg/s. Additionally, two candidates globular clusters have been detected within NGC 3921. They are both fairly young, and are about half as massive as Omega Centauri: this demonstrates that mergers of gas-rich galaxies can also create more metal-rich globular clusters.
caption: NGC 3921, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "It is known today that merging galaxies play a large role in the evolution of galaxies and the formation of elliptical galaxies in particular. However there are only a few merging systems close enough to be observed in depth. The pair of interacting galaxies picture seen here \u2014 known as NGC 3921 \u2014 is one of these systems. NGC 3921 \u2014 found in the constellation of Ursa Major (The Great Bear) \u2014 is an interacting pair of disc galaxies in the late stages of its merger. Observations show that both of the galaxies involved were about the same mass and collided about 700 million years ago. You can see clearly in this image the disturbed morphology, tails and loops characteristic of a post-merger. The clash of galaxies caused a rush of star formation and previous Hubble observations showed over 1000 bright, young star clusters bursting to life at the heart of the galaxy pair.", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CC 2014 (Windows)"}