Back up and running my normal imaging routine in Chile after an interruption due to equipment repair on the RA drive.

This is the entangled duo NGC4567 and 4568. They lie in Virgo about 52 million lys away. The pair is quite close with their cores separated by only an estimated 20,000 lys. Their basic structures, including the spiral arms, are still intact despite the proximity of the two. However, studies show the highest star formation is taking place where they overlap.

Importantly, the picture offers an interesting parallel to the future merger of Andromeda with the Milky Way. In fact both their relative sizes and shapes somewhat mirror Andromeda and the Milky Way.

PlaneWave 12.5″ Astrograph with ZWO ASI 6200 camera, Astrodon filters, and ASA gearless DDM-85 mount. F/8 LRGB (35/8min L, 10/3min RGB each, all 2×2 bin).