Looking Into a Pair of Cosmic Eyes

By Nancy Atkinson - August 24, 2011 at 1:30 PM UTC | Extragalactic
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Have you ever looked through your telescope and felt like you were being watched? These two galaxies in the Virgo cluster form a pair of cosmic eyes that stare right back at you! These two oval-shaped galaxies, NGC 4438 (left) and NGC 4435, are nicknamed "The Eyes" since they resemble a pair of eyes glowing in the dark when seen in a moderate-sized telescope. This image was taken by the Very Large Telescope at Paranal in Chile, using the FORS2, a visual and near ultraviolet FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph for the VLT.

These eyes have likely changed in shape over time, and astronomers can see evidence that the pair probably both were spiral galaxies in the past. The contents of NGC 4438 have been stripped out by a violent process: a collision with another galaxy. This clash has distorted the galaxy's spiral shape, much as could happen to the Milky Way when it collides with its neighboring galaxy Andromeda in three or four billion years.

Although the two eyes look similar at their centers, their outskirts could not be more different. NGC 4435 is compact and seems to be almost devoid of gas and dust. In contrast, NGC 4438 has a lane of obscuring dust just below its nucleus, with young stars visible just left of its center, and gas extends at least up to the edges of the image.

ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is a collaboration between 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious program focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organizing cooperation in astronomical research.

See more about this image at the

ESO website.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com