                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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.

                               2023 January 23
   Two spiral galaxies are shown right next to each other, with a smaller
    distorted galaxy on the far left. Please see the explanation for more
                            detailed information.

                  The Colliding Spiral Galaxies of Arp 274
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & Copyright: Mehmet Hakan
                                    zsara

   Explanation: Two galaxies are squaring off in Virgo and here are the
   latest pictures. When two galaxies collide, the stars that compose them
   usually do not. This is because galaxies are mostly empty space and,
   however bright, stars only take up only a small fraction of that space.
   But during the collision, one galaxy can rip the other apart
   gravitationally, and dust and gas common to both galaxies does collide.
   If the two galaxies merge, black holes that likely resided in each
   galaxy center may eventually merge. Because the distances are so large,
   the whole thing takes place in slow motion -- over hundreds of millions
   of years. Besides the two large spiral galaxies, a smaller third galaxy
   is visible on the far left of the featured image of Arp 274, also known
   as NGC 5679. Arp 274 spans about 200,000 light years across and lies
   about 400 million light years away toward the constellation of Virgo.

    Night Sky Network webinar: APOD editor to review best space images of
                                    2022
                      Tomorrow's picture: a world away
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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