| NGC 6600 | |
| Z: | 0.018079 |
| Dist Ly: | 310 Mly (93 Mpc) |
| Appmag V: | 14.6 |
| Type: | Sc |
| Size: | 100,000 ly |
| Size V: | 1.23′ × 1.148′ |
| Names: | NGC 6599, PGC 61655, UGC 11178, CGCG 142-031, MCG +04-43-019 |
NGC 6600 (NGC 6599 duplicate[1]) is a lenticular galaxy roughly 310 million light-years away in the constellation Hercules.[2] NGC 6600 was discovered in 1864 by Albert Marth.[3] Unlike our own Milky Way, NGC 6600 boasts a tightly wound structure, swirling with stars and gas.[4]
NGC 6600 appears as combination of blue and white hues, these colors emanate from its young, hot stars, clustered primarily in the galaxy's spiral arms.[5] As these stars age and cool down, their colors shift towards red.[6]
One of the key tools astronomers use to understand galaxies like NGC 6600 is redshift. This phenomenon occurs when light waves from an object moving away from us stretch out, shifting their colors towards the red end of the spectrum.
NGC 6600's spiral arms play a crucial role in the galaxy's evolution. As gas and dust flow inwards along these arms, they condense and form new stars.[7] These newborn stars, with their intense radiation and stellar winds, sculpt the arms further, creating a continuous cycle of star formation and evolution.
The exact cause of its tightly wound spiral arms remains a mystery. Some astronomers believe it might be due to a past interaction with another galaxy, while others propose it could be a natural consequence of the galaxy's internal dynamics.