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Astronomy Picture of the Day - A Collision of Galaxy Clusters
NASA ^ | 21 May, 2026 | Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/C. Watson et al.; Optical: PanSTARRS; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/S

Posted on 05/21/2026 11:33:02 AM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: This big beautiful spiral shines in X-ray light. It is about 20 times larger than our Galaxy. It belongs to Abell 2029, a galaxy cluster one billion light-years away. (To see only the galaxies, hover your cursor over the image, or follow this link.) Galaxy clusters are the largest structures in the universe that are supported by gravity. Abell 2029 is formed by thousands of galaxies, surrounded by a huge cloud of hot gas and the equivalent of hundreds of trillions times the mass of the Sun in dark matter. The spiral is made of gas, mostly hydrogen and helium, heated to tens of millions of degrees. It was found in a recent study that used data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to show that Abell 2029 had a collision with a smaller cluster four billion years ago. The collision affected the gravitational field and caused the intracluster gas to slosh, like wine moving in a wine glass, shaping the spiral.


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

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To be added or removed from the Astronomy Picture of the Day ping list please send me a request via "Private Reply" (Mail).

For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 05/21/2026 11:33:02 AM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 05/21/2026 11:33:42 AM 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

3 posted on 05/21/2026 11:34:21 AM 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

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

4 posted on 05/21/2026 11:35:28 AM 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

Make sure to click on the image at the link and then use the zoom cursor feature. All that looks like stars in the background are actually galaxies in the galaxy cluster.


5 posted on 05/21/2026 11:37:30 AM 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

I would have thought the Jupiter-Moon-Venus Smiley face over the last couple of days would have made a Picture of Day


6 posted on 05/21/2026 11:42:48 AM PDT by qam1 (There's been a huge party. All plates and the bottles are empty, all that's left is the bill to pay)
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To: qam1

That would be under;
(Islam Caucus).


7 posted on 05/21/2026 11:51:17 AM PDT by Big Red Badger (Resist Satan's Tyranny )
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To: qam1

I saw It Monday and It was Spectacular!
It signaled the Beginning of Muzzies Festival of EID.
What Ever That is according to UAE.


8 posted on 05/21/2026 11:58:48 AM PDT by Big Red Badger (Resist Satan's Tyranny )
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To: MtnClimber

Wow.


9 posted on 05/21/2026 12:06:04 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: MtnClimber

Beautiful.


10 posted on 05/21/2026 12:06:11 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: Big Red Badger

Monday was great even though the moon was next to Venus instead of between it a Jupiter.

What was interesting I never saw the moon crescent that thin that was also that far (angle wise) away from the Sun.

Enjoy Venus while you can, it’s at its best this apparition for the Northern Hemisphere right now, once summer officially starts it going to head south below the sun and not have good visibility in the Northern Hemisphere (It will be spectacular in the Southern Hemisphere)


11 posted on 05/21/2026 12:21:17 PM PDT by qam1 (There's been a huge party. All plates and the bottles are empty, all that's left is the bill to pay)
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To: Big Red Badger

Is that the festival they where they sacrifice animals like camels?


12 posted on 05/21/2026 1:15:24 PM PDT by Berosus (I wish I had as much faith in God as liberals have in government.)
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To: qam1

Thanks for That
I’ll keep an Eye out.

It’s Fascinating that these occurrences can be pinpointed in the Future !
Some ancient occurrences can be dated by
Other allinments. The Big Bang or
‘In the Beginning GOD’ would be Interesting!
Cheers!


13 posted on 05/21/2026 1:17:10 PM PDT by Big Red Badger (Resist Satan's Tyranny )
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To: Berosus

Camels a Nasty !
I really don’t know but I wouldn’t miss them. It’s a Moon god cult based on war and conquest that started around 600 AD.
That’s about all I need to Know.


14 posted on 05/21/2026 1:26:42 PM PDT by Big Red Badger (Resist Satan's Tyranny )
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