NGC 5426 & NGC 5427
Galaxy Pair with Material Bridge

The interacting galaxy pair Arp 271 in the constellation Virgo consists of the two spiral galaxies NGC 5426 and NGC 5427. According to astrophysical measurements, its distance to Earth is approximately 90 to 110 million light-years. Both galaxies possess a similar mass and each has an intrinsic diameter of about 95,000 to 100,000 light-years, making them nearly equal in scale to our own Milky Way.

The horizontally aligned overview image clearly shows the geometric arrangement of the objects in space (with the image rotation placing North to the left and West at the top):

• NGC 5427 (Left component): Located in the northern hemisphere of the system, it appears to the observer almost completely face-on (viewed from above).
• NGC 5426 (Right component): Forms the southern part of the pair and is steeply inclined to our line of sight (near edge-on view).

The projected distance between the two galactic centers is currently around 60,000 light-years. Since the galaxies are in a very early stage of their first close passage, this small separation has not yet led to a nuclear merger, but it already exerts massive gravitational tidal forces. The detailed view (image crop) documents the resulting prominent material bridge. This bridge of gas, interstellar dust, and tidal stars connects the spiral arms of both systems. Spectroscopic studies show that an active stream of material is flowing from NGC 5426 on the right toward NGC 5427 on the left, compressing the interstellar medium and triggering intense star formation processes (starbursts).

A large number of other galaxies can be seen in the image background. Nearly all background objects visible in the exposure are members of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster and share a similar distance as the main interacting pair.