Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2020 May 10

                       The Porpoise Galaxy from Hubble
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Reprocessing & Copyright: Raul
                                 Villaverde

   Explanation: What's happening to this spiral galaxy? Just a few hundred
   million years ago, NGC 2936, the upper of the two large galaxies shown,
   was likely a normal spiral galaxy -- spinning, creating stars -- and
   minding its own business. But then it got too close to the massive
   elliptical galaxy NGC 2937 below and took a dive. Dubbed the Porpoise
   Galaxy for its iconic shape, NGC 2936 is not only being deflected but
   also being distorted by the close gravitational interaction. A burst of
   young blue stars forms the nose of the porpoise toward the right of the
   upper galaxy, while the center of the spiral appears as an eye.
   Alternatively, the galaxy pair, together known as Arp 142, look to some
   like a penguin protecting an egg. Either way, intricate dark dust lanes
   and bright blue star streams trail the troubled galaxy to the lower
   right. The featured re-processed image showing Arp 142 in unprecedented
   detail was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope last year. Arp 142 lies
   about 300 million light years away toward the constellation,
   coincidently, of the Water Snake (Hydra). In a billion years or so the
   two galaxies will likely merge into one larger galaxy.

                    Tomorrow's picture: behind betelgeuse
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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