Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2024 May 23 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Unraveling NGC 3169 Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Christophe Vergnes, [5]Aziz Kaeouach Explanation: Spiral galaxy NGC 3169 looks to be unraveling like a ball of cosmic yarn. It lies some 70 million light-years away, [6]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 [7]interact gravitationally. Eventually the galaxies will merge into one, a common fate even for bright galaxies in [8]the local universe. Drawn out stellar arcs and plumes are clear indications of the ongoing gravitational interactions across the deep and colorful [9]galaxy group photo. [10]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, [11]harboring an active galactic nucleus that is the site of a supermassive black hole. Tomorrow's picture: Chamaeleon Cloud __________________________________________________________________ [12]< | [13]Archive | [14]Submissions | [15]Index | [16]Search | [17]Calendar | [18]RSS | [19]Education | [20]About APOD | [21]Discuss | [22]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [23]Robert Nemiroff ([24]MTU) & [25]Jerry Bonnell ([26]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [27]Specific rights apply. [28]NASA Web Privacy, [29]Accessibility Notices A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC, [33]NASA Science Activation & [34]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2405/N3169N3166Final.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.astrobin.com/users/Chris.V/ 5. https://www.astrobin.com/users/aziz5200/ 6. http://www.eso.org/public/videos/eso1114a/ 7. https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noao-ngc3166/ 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120604.html 9. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/galgrps/leoii.html 10. https://www.astrobin.com/ai8tao/ 11. http://arxiv.org/abs/0801.4382 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240522.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 16. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 21. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240523 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240524.html 23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 26. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 28. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 29. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 30. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 31. https://www.nasa.gov/ 32. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 33. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 34. http://www.mtu.edu/