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Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh
(Heaven's Mirror Observatory)
Explanation:
A careful look at
this colorful cosmic snapshot reveals a surprising number of
galaxies both near and far toward the constellation
Ursa Major.
The most striking is
NGC 3718,
the warped spiral galaxy near picture center.
NGC 3718's spiral arms look
twisted and extended,
mottled with young blue star clusters.
Drawn out dust lanes obscure its yellowish central regions.
A mere 150 thousand light-years to the right
is another large spiral galaxy, NGC 3729.
The two are likely
interacting gravitationally,
accounting for the peculiar
appearance of NGC 3718.
While this galaxy pair lies about 52 million light-years away,
the remarkable
Hickson Group 56 can also be
seen clustered above NGC 3718, near the top of the frame.
Hickson
Group 56
consists of five
interacting galaxies and lies over 400 million light-years away.
This picture was chosen as the overall winner in the 2013
David Malin
Astrophotography Competition.
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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: interacting galaxies
Publications with words: interacting galaxies
See also: