Vorontsov - Velyaminov (VV)

While Halton Arp focused on "peculiar" galaxies in the West, Boris Vorontsov-Velyaminov was conducting an even more massive hunt for cosmic chaos behind the Iron Curtain. His database, the Vorontsov-Velyaminov (VV) Catalogue of Interacting Galaxies, remains one of the most comprehensive inventories of galactic collisions ever compiled.

History & Who Made It

Boris Vorontsov-Velyaminov (1904–1994) was a titan of Soviet astronomy. Based at the Sternberg Astronomical Institute in Moscow, he published the first part of his catalog in 1959, years before Arp’s famous atlas.

Working primarily from the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS) plates, he eventually expanded the catalog to include over 2,000 systems (spanning VV 1 to VV 2065). While Western astronomers were often isolated from Soviet research during the Cold War, the VV catalog was so thorough that it eventually became a global standard for studying how galaxies physically influence one another.

The Purpose: The Physics of Interaction

The VV database was built to answer one question: What happens to a galaxy's structure when another galaxy gets too close?

• • Tidal Forces: Vorontsov-Velyaminov was obsessed with the "bridges" and "tails" that connect galaxies. He proved these weren't just visual alignments but physical streams of stars being ripped out by gravity.

  • Massive Census: Unlike Arp, who selected 338 "showpiece" examples, the VV catalog was meant to be a statistically significant census. It provided the data needed to understand how common galactic cannibalism actually is in the universe.

  • The "Luminous Bridge" Theory: He spent a great deal of time classifying the brightness and thickness of the material connecting galaxies, helping later theorists model galactic evolution.

What Objects Can Be Found In It?

The catalog is famous for its diversity. It doesn't just look at pairs; it looks at chains, groups, and "nested" systems where one galaxy appears to be inside another.

The VV Database Summary (Flat Text)

• Catalog Name: Catalogue of Interacting Galaxies (VV)

• Creator: Boris Vorontsov-Velyaminov

• Years: 1959 (Part 1), 1977 (Part 2), 2001 (Posthumous update)

• Total Objects: 2,065 systems

• Primary Focus: Interacting, merging, and "bridged" galaxies.

Common VV Structural Types:

1. 1. M-type (Merging): Two galaxies essentially becoming one.

   2. B-type (Bridged): Two distinct galaxies connected by a visible "umbilical cord" of stars.

   3. T-type (Tailed): Galaxies with long, sweeping gravitational tails.

Famous "VV" Showpieces:

• VV 29 (The Tadpole Galaxy): A galaxy with a massive tail of stars 280,000 light-years long.

• VV 245 (The Mice): Two interacting spirals (NGC 4676) that look like they are chasing each other.

• VV 116 (Stephan’s Quintet): While also a Hickson group, its VV designation (VV 116) emphasizes the physical distortions within the group.

The Observer's Challenge

For the amateur astronomer, the VV catalog is the "Deep Cut" list.

• Magnification is Key: Because the "inter-galactic bridges" are very faint, you often need high magnification and exceptional contrast to see the interaction.

• The "Missing" Links: Many objects in the VV catalog are much fainter than those in the Arp Atlas, often requiring 14-inch to 20-inch telescopes.

• Cross-Referencing: If you find an interacting pair in the NGC, it almost certainly has a VV number. Checking the VV notes will tell you if there are "faint appendages" you should be looking for.

Why It Matters

Vorontsov-Velyaminov was one of the first to realize that galaxies are not "islands" but are part of a dynamic, violent ecosystem. His catalog helped shift astronomy from seeing galaxies as static objects to seeing them as evolving, living systems.

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Legenda

HII-regions:

• H - large inner subsystems, the galaxies with vast HII-regions

M51 type

• - the satellite on the spiral branch of primary component:

• M - one satellite,

• MM - two satellites on the spirals,

• MMM - satellite lies on the bridge connecting the components

Nests:

• N - three or more members in a tight group,

• NN - disrupted nest,

• NNN - separated triples,

• NNNP - triples with a tight pair,

• NPNP - the pair of tight pairs,

• NP - nest with clear pair,

• Ch - chain.

Pairs:

• PC - pair of coalescents, b - bridge

• PK - pair in contact, t - tail

• PD - distant pair, df - disruption of the facade

Pseudo-Rings

• R - a ring without a nucleus together the non-elliptic galaxy,

"Comets"

• K - comet-like single galaxy,

Enigmatic     

• En - including

• Ent - a single galaxy with a tail,

• Enf - a single with breaking of inner structure,

• Enat - not tidal phenomena.

1,11 columns  -   VV-designation of the galaxy. Unlike the preceeding parts the new galaxies (from VV853) were nominated in order of alfa2000,

2-3 columns - equatorial coordinates of the galaxy for the equinox 2000 from NEDA-NASA/IPAC,

4 column    - the total magnitude of the component or of the whole system Bt or B(mB) from NED or mpg from MCG,

5 column    - the angular dimensions in units of 0.1 minutes from NED or MCG,

6-7 columns - radial velocity of the galaxy: from optical observations VRo and from radio observations VRr in according of Vaucouleurs catalogue RC3 [9]. By asterisk there were marked the data from NED but not contained in RC3.

8-9 columns - the information on IRAS and radiodata,

10 column   - the morphological type of the galaxy: S - spiral, E - elliptical, I -irregular,

12 column   - the type of the interaction in according of the above-mentioned code,

13-18 columns give the identification of the object with catalogues MCG, NGC, Zwicky [10], Markarjan [11], Arp [12], UGC [13].The other identifications may be found in NED.

Source: http://www.sai.msu.su/sn/vv/