Posted on 05/10/2020 8:58:35 AM PDT by MtnClimber
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) photo for today.
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at apod.nasa.gov ...
“ Very cool. Although I see a perched hummingbird..”
I see a dragon from Everquest.
Nice!
Wuhan hummingbird
Life without ‘porpoise’ would be something to ‘sea’ .. Go Hubble!!
So long and thanks for the fish
If you focus on the inner, brighter area, it almost looks like a penguin.
We had to have the boat hauled out in Titusville due to a prop issue. While waiting for the lift, we saw a manatee baby floating around in the lift pool. A few minutes later, momma manatee showed up. She was huge indeed. We’ve a 36ft sailboat and the rough guess is that she was 15ft at least.
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