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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Unraveling NGC 3169
NASA ^ | 18 May, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: Simone Curzi and the ShaRA Team

Posted on 05/18/2026 12:32:11 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: Spiral galaxy NGC 3169 looks to be unraveling like a ball of cosmic yarn. It lies some 70 million light-years away, south of bright star Regulus toward the faint constellation Sextans. Wound up spiral arms are pulled out into sweeping tidal tails as NGC 3169 (left) and neighboring NGC 3166 interact gravitationally. Eventually the galaxies will merge into one, a common fate even for bright galaxies in the local universe. Drawn out stellar arcs and plumes are clear indications of the ongoing gravitational interactions across the deep and colorful galaxy group photo. The telescopic frame spans about 20 arc minutes or about 400,000 light-years at the group's estimated distance, and includes smaller, bluish NGC 3165 to the right. NGC 3169 is also known to shine across the spectrum from radio to X-rays, harboring an active galactic nucleus that is the site of a supermassive black hole.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

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1 posted on 05/18/2026 12:32:11 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 05/18/2026 12:32:38 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 05/18/2026 12:33:19 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

It must be a universal physics constant. The same unwinding happens to my fishing reel. Could there be a quantum entanglement?


4 posted on 05/18/2026 12:35:15 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.


5 posted on 05/18/2026 12:37:30 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who youโ€™ll know me as )
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To: MtnClimber

It’s too late
She’s gone too far
She’s lost the sun
She’s come undone


6 posted on 05/18/2026 12:52:44 PM PDT by DannyTN
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To: DannyTN

Yes, it has come undun.


7 posted on 05/18/2026 12:55:18 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

Somebody pulled a loose thread in the fabric of space-time and now it’s unravelling.............


8 posted on 05/18/2026 1:29:02 PM PDT by Red Badger (Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine โ€“ August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
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To: DannyTN

Great vocal by Cummings.


9 posted on 05/18/2026 2:38:56 PM PDT by Fungi
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To: MtnClimber

In Psalm 147:4:
โ€œHe determines the number of the stars; He calls them each by nameโ€

Wow!

Deut 29: 29 โ€œThe secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”


10 posted on 05/18/2026 3:17:32 PM PDT by Fungi
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