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Credit & Copyright: Jean-Franöois Bax & Serge Brunier,
OCA/C2PU;
Text:
Ogetay Kayali
(Michigan Tech U.)
Explanation:
Why does this galaxy look like a
curly vegetable?
The Fiddlehead spiral galaxy
likely gets its distorted spiral appearance from a
gravitational interaction with its close-by elliptical companion
NGC 770, seen just below.
Cataloged as NGC 772 and Arp 78,
the Fiddlehead spans over 200,000 light years,
is a nearby 100 million light years beyond
the stars of our Milky Way galaxy, and is visible toward the
constellation of the Ram (Aries).
But in the
featured image,
the Fiddlehead appears to have another companion --
one with a long and fuzzy tail:
Comet 43P/Wolf-Harrington.
Though the comet appears to be aimed straight at the massive galaxy, it is actually much closer to us, residing only
light minutes away -- well within our Solar System.
The comet will never reach the distant spiral galaxy,
nor is it physically related to it.
By a fortunate trick of perspective, though, these two cosmic wonders briefly share the same frame taken late last year from
Calern,
France.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: spiral galaxy - comet
Publications with words: spiral galaxy - comet
See also:
- APOD: 2025 February 5 Á Comet G3 ATLAS Setting over a Chilean Hill
- APOD: 2025 February 2 Á Comet G3 ATLAS Disintegrates
- APOD: 2025 January 28 Á Comet G3 ATLAS over Uruguay
- APOD: 2025 January 26 Á The Many Tails of Comet G3 ATLAS
- Comet G3 ATLAS: a Tail and a Telescope
- NGC 7814: Little Sombrero
- APOD: 2025 January 21 Á Comet ATLAS over Brasilia