During spring in the northern hemisphere, the constellation Corvus appears in the southern sky. Known as the Crow, Corvus is small but packed with interesting sights, including the “Stargate” asterism, a neat geometric pattern that’s worth a visit. Not far from this pattern, you’ll find NGC 4038 and NGC 4039. These two are interacting in a slow gravitational collision roughly 45 million light-years from Earth.
Two galaxies, one structure
Individually, NGC 4038 was likely a barred spiral galaxy and NGC 4039 a spiral galaxy. Those once-clean spiral disks are now largely gone. Gravity has pulled them into long tidal streams that arc far into space. Those faint extensions give the system its famous “insect antennae” appearance.
At the center, the two original cores are still there but heavily distorted. Dust lanes cut across them, and you don’t see clean spiral arms anymore.
A system in transition
What makes NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 especially interesting is that the merger is still underway. The galaxies have already passed through each other at least once. And now, the cores are falling back together, continuing to distort and reshape the system.
As gas clouds from both galaxies collide, they compress and ignite bursts of star formation. The bright blue patches are clusters of young, hot stars. Around them, glowing hydrogen gives the scene its soft reddish-pink hue.
In 2010, researchers found that star clusters follow a clear pattern: many are faint and low-mass, while fewer are bright and massive, with no distinct cutoff. The smallest clusters are abundant and not misidentified stars. Although clusters form in large numbers, many are short-lived and can disperse, sometimes triggering new star formation nearby.
Over time, the two will merge into a single elliptical galaxy.
But for now, the Antennae remain suspended in the act of becoming—one of those rare moments where the universe lets us watch change unfold.
My Observations
Observation on April 18, 2026, at 12:40 a.m. from Tampa, FL
Under suburban skies (Bortle 6–7), the Antennae Galaxies remain a difficult catch. The galaxies have low surface brightness, just on the edge of what small optics can resolve.
With my 8-inch SCT under Tampa’s glow, I found only the faintest suggestion of them using averted vision. No structure. No detail worth committing to paper—just a soft, circular wisp that came and went depending on how still I held my gaze.
I turned to the Seestar S50. I let it run through a sequence of 10-second exposures for 60 minutes. I had to cut the session due to low battery—and I was ready for bed!
The image below is what remained of that hour: two galaxies in contact, just beginning to show themselves through the noise of suburbia.
Key Stats
| Constellation | Corvus |
| Best Viewing | Spring |
| Visual Magnitude | +10.3 (combined) |
| Absolute Magnitude | ~21 (approximate) |
| Distance from Earth | ~45 million light-years |
| Diameter | ~500,000 light-years |
| Apparent Size | 5.2 × 3.1 arcmin (main bodies) |
| My Viewing Grade | C |
| Designations | NGC 4038, NGC 4039, Arp 244, Caldwell 60, C60 |
Sources
NASA Science. (2025, August 17). The Antennae galaxies (NGC 4038–4039). NASA. https://science.nasa.gov/asset/hubble/the-antennae-galaxiesngc-4038-4039/
Wikipedia contributors. (2026, April 26). Antennae galaxies. In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antennae_Galaxies
Whitmore, B. C., Chandar, R., & Fall, S. M. (2010). Star cluster demographics. I. A general framework and application to the Antennae galaxies. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/1005.0629
Seestar photos by Wayne McGraw
The Garden Astronomer 