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 September 18

                      Arp 78: Peculiar Galaxy in Aries
                  Image Credit & Copyright: Bernard Miller

   Explanation: (xxxedit and linkxxx) Peculiar spiral galaxy Arp 78 is
   found within the boundaries of the head strong constellation Aries,
   some 100 million light-years beyond the stars and nebulae of our Milky
   Way galaxy. Also known as NGC 772, the island universe is over 100,000
   light-years across and sports a single prominent outer spiral arm in
   this detailed cosmic portrait. Its brightest companion galaxy, compact
   NGC 770, is toward the upper right of the larger spiral. NGC 770's
   fuzzy, elliptical appearance contrasts nicely with a spiky foreground
   Milky Way star in matching yellowish hues. Tracking along sweeping dust
   lanes and lined with young blue star clusters, Arp 78's large spiral
   arm is likely due to gravitational tidal interactions. Faint streams of
   material seem to connect Arp 78 with its nearby companion galaxies.

                        Tomorrow's picture: 3D Orion
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
                NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
                             & Michigan Tech. U.


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.7.18 (GNU/Linux-x86_64)