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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Galaxies in the Furnace
NASA ^ | 4 Dec, 2025 | Image Credit & Copyright: Simone Curzi and the ShaRA Team

Posted on 12/04/2025 12:47:58 PM PST by MtnClimber

Explanation: An example of violence on a cosmic scale, enormous elliptical galaxy NGC 1316 lies about 75 million light-years away toward Fornax, the southern constellation of the Furnace. Investigating the startling sight, astronomers suspect the giant galaxy of colliding with smaller neighbor NGC 1317 seen just right of the large galaxy's center, producing far flung star streams in loops and shells. Light from their close encounter would have reached Earth some 100 million years ago. In the sharp telescopic image, the central regions of NGC 1316 and NGC 1317 appear separated by over 100,000 light-years. Complex dust lanes visible within also indicate that NGC 1316 is itself the result of a merger of galaxies in the distant past. Found on the outskirts of the Fornax galaxy cluster, NGC 1316 is known as Fornax A. One of the visually brightest of the Fornax cluster galaxies it is one of the strongest and largest celestial radio sources with radio emission extending well beyond this one degree wide field-of-view.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa
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1 posted on 12/04/2025 12:47:58 PM PST by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 12/04/2025 12:48:15 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; ...
Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

3 posted on 12/04/2025 12:48:49 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

“Who are you? What do you want?”
B5 reference obviously.


4 posted on 12/04/2025 1:36:50 PM PST by Zathras
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To: MtnClimber

Thanks.


5 posted on 12/04/2025 1:37:06 PM PST by kawhill (And the sea will bring each man new hope as sleep brings dreams of home. C.C.)
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To: MtnClimber

Wow.


6 posted on 12/04/2025 1:59:38 PM PST by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: MtnClimber

Wow.


7 posted on 12/04/2025 1:59:38 PM PST by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: MtnClimber
Fornax is Latin for "furnace." Not to be confused with fornix meaning "arch," "vault," "covered way," or "brothel." Fornicatus means "arched" or "vaulted" but I believe there are some words derived from it.
8 posted on 12/04/2025 2:14:48 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: MtnClimber

Here.


9 posted on 12/04/2025 4:26:54 PM PST by SkyDancer ( ~ Am Yisrael Chai ~)
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To: MtnClimber
Thank you for posting!

Paridola....a Drunken Panda with odd eyes staring back at me from the void!

10 posted on 12/04/2025 6:07:04 PM PST by Pete from Shawnee Mission ( )
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To: MtnClimber

Cool picture.


11 posted on 12/04/2025 7:25:08 PM PST by telescope115 (Ad Astra, Ad Deum…)
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