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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Galaxies in the River: NGC 1300 and NGC 1297
NASA ^ | 21 Mar, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: Dietmar Hager and Eric Benson

Posted on 03/21/2026 1:07:54 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: Spiral NGC 1300 and elliptical NGC 1297 are galaxies that lie on the banks of the southern constellation Eridanus (The River). At 70 million light-years distant or more, both are members of the Eridanus Galaxy Cluster. About 100,000 light-years across, at lower left in this sharp, galaxy group photo NGC 1300 is seen face-on with a prominent central bar and grand, sweeping spiral arms. Like other spiral galaxies, including our own barred spiral Milky Way Galaxy, NGC 1300 is thought to have a supermassive central black hole. A contrast in appearance and slightly more distant, NGC 1297 is the roughly spherical large elliptical galaxy near the top of the frame. With little active star formation, elliptical galaxies are composed of older populations of stars and are likely he result of multiple collisions and mergers with spirals.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa
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1 posted on 03/21/2026 1:07:54 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 03/21/2026 1:08:20 PM PDT 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

๐Ÿช ๐ŸŒŸ ๐ŸŒŒ ๐Ÿ”

3 posted on 03/21/2026 1:09:17 PM PDT 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

Wow.


4 posted on 03/21/2026 2:14:36 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who youโ€™ll know me as )
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To: No name given

Double and triple WOW~


5 posted on 03/21/2026 2:31:15 PM PDT by SkyDancer ( ~ Am Yisrael Chai ~)
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To: MtnClimber

The spinning cheeseburger.


6 posted on 03/21/2026 3:00:47 PM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancerโ€ )
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To: blueunicorn6

Chuck Schumer doesn’t know that you put the cheese on near the end of cooking.


7 posted on 03/21/2026 3:15:36 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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