IC 2431
{{Short description|Interacting galaxies in the constellation Cancer}}
{{Infobox galaxy|name=IC 2431|image=File:IC2431 - HST, PanSTARRS.png|caption=Hubble Space Telescope and PAN-STARRS image of IC 2431|constellation name=Cancer|ra=09h 04m 35.35s|dec=+14d 35m 38.7s|z=0.049700|h_radial_v=14,579 km/s|dist_ly=684 Mly (209.71 Mpc)|appmag_v=14.3|type=Group|notes=Interacting galaxies|names=PGC 25476, CGCG 090-063, UGC 4756, Mrk 1224, IRAS 09018+1447, SFRS 040, MCG +03-23-030, NVSS J090434+143538, VV 645, LSBC D634-04, AKARI J0904345+143541, VLSS J0904.5+1435, TXS 0901+147, LEDA 25476|epoch=J2000}}
IC 2431 are a group of interacting galaxies in the constellation of Cancer.{{Cite web |last=Astronomy |first=Go |title=IC 2431 {{!}} galaxy group in Cancer {{!}} IC List {{!}} GO ASTRONOMY |url=https://www.go-astronomy.com/ic.php?ID=2543 |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=Go-Astronomy.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Ford |first=Dominic |title=IC2431 (Galaxy) |url=https://in-the-sky.org//data/object.php?id=IC2431 |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=In-The-Sky.org |language=en}} They are located 684 million light-years away from the Solar System{{Cite web |title=NED Search Results for IC 2431 |url=https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?search_type=Obj_id&objid=56517&objname=13&img_stamp=YES&hconst=73.0&omegam=0.27&omegav=0.73&corr_z=1 |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=ned.ipac.caltech.edu}} and were discovered on February 24, 1896, by Stephane Javelle.{{Cite web |title=Index Catalog Objects: IC 2400 - 2449 |url=https://cseligman.com/text/atlas/ic24.htm#ic2431 |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=cseligman.com}}
Characteristics
There are at least three galaxies involved in the gravitational interaction. They are IC 2431 NED01 (known as PGC 200245),{{Cite web |title=NED Search Results for IC 2431 NED01 |url=https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?search_type=Obj_id&objid=56518&objname=10&img_stamp=YES&hconst=73.0&omegam=0.27&omegav=0.73&corr_z=1 |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=ned.ipac.caltech.edu}} IC 2431 NED02 (known as NSA 135647){{Cite web |title=NED Search Results for IC 2431 NED02 |url=https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?search_type=Obj_id&objid=56519&objname=5&img_stamp=YES&hconst=73.0&omegam=0.27&omegav=0.73&corr_z=1 |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=ned.ipac.caltech.edu}} and IC 2431 NED03 (known as PGC 200246).{{Cite web |title=NED Search Results for IC 2431 NED03 |url=https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?search_type=Obj_id&objid=56520&objname=6&img_stamp=YES&hconst=73.0&omegam=0.27&omegav=0.73&corr_z=1 |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=ned.ipac.caltech.edu}} Additionally, a fourth galaxy (PGC 200247){{Cite web |title=NED Search Results for IC 3431 NED04 |url=https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/objsearch?search_type=Obj_id&objid=56521&objname=16&img_stamp=YES&hconst=73.0&omegam=0.27&omegav=0.73&corr_z=1 |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=ned.ipac.caltech.edu}} might also be involved in the interaction. As they draw closer to each other, the forces are causing them to tear each other apart.{{Cite web |author1=Brandon Specktor |date=2022-02-21 |title=Three galaxies are tearing each other apart in stunning new Hubble telescope image |url=https://www.space.com/triple-galaxy-merger-cancer-hubble-photo |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=Space.com |language=en}} This is common in the universe and all large galaxies, including the Milky Way own their size to violent mergers.
File:Tumultuous galactic trio (51888739778).jpg
The galaxies are undergoing tumultuous mixture of star formation and tidal distortions which are caused by the interaction.{{Cite web |last=information@eso.org |title=Tumultuous Galactic Trio |url=https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw2207a/ |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=www.spacetelescope.org |language=en}} In the center, a thick cloud of dust is seen obscuring, which light from a background galaxy is piercing its outer extremities. Also, they display a thermally-dominated X-ray emission which is much more in excess of expectations based on its own star formation rate.{{Cite journal |last=Soria |first=Roberto |date=2022-09-01 |title=Rapid Galaxy Evolution in the Compact Group IC 2431 |url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022cxo..prop.6394S |journal=Chandra Proposal |pages=6394|bibcode=2022cxo..prop.6394S }}
IC 2431 falls under the category of Markarian Galaxies as Mrk 1224, in which its core shines bright in ultraviolet rays. It is possible that carbon monoxide might be present in the regions of the interacting galaxies, which can be determined by the fraction of interstellar gas and total mass in form of molecules.{{Cite journal |title=1982PASP...94..415G Page 415 |url=https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1982PASP...94..415G |access-date=2024-04-29 |journal=Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific|bibcode=1982PASP...94..415G |last1=Gordon |first1=M. A. |last2=Heidmann |first2=J. |last3=Epstein |first3=E. E. |date=1982 |volume=94 |page=415 |doi=10.1086/131002 }} Not to mention, IC 2431 possibly contains an active nucleus which produces ionized gas outflows.{{Cite web |title=A new, clean catalogue of extragalactic non-nuclear X-ray sources in nearby galaxies |url=https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/483/4/5554/5257853 |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=academic.oup.com}}{{Cite journal |last1=Muñoz |first1=L. Hermosa |last2=Márquez |first2=I. |last3=Cazzoli |first3=S. |last4=Masegosa |first4=J. |last5=Agís-González |first5=B. |date=2022-04-01 |title=A search for ionised gas outflows in an Hα imaging atlas of nearby LINERs |url=https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2022/04/aa42629-21/aa42629-21.html |journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics |language=en |volume=660 |pages=A133 |doi=10.1051/0004-6361/202142629 |arxiv=2201.05080 |bibcode=2022A&A...660A.133H |issn=0004-6361}}