MSGID: 1:153/757.0 8ede88d4
TZUTC: -0700
CHRS: LATIN-1 2
                        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 September 25
      A starfield with two bright stars at the top of the frame and two
   galaxies at the bottom. The upper galaxy is a spiral galaxy and has an
       appearance reminiscent of a hummingbird. The lower galaxy is a
     featureless elliptical galaxy. Please see the explanation for more
                            detailed information.

                       Arp 142: The Hummingbird Galaxy
    Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Processing & Copyright: Basudeb
                                 Chakrabarti

   Explanation: What's happening to this spiral galaxy? Just a few hundred
   million years ago, NGC 2936, the upper of the two large galaxies shown
   at the bottom, was likely a normal spiral galaxy -- spinning, creating
   stars -- and minding its own business. But then it got too close to the
   massive elliptical galaxy NGC 2937, just below, and took a turn.
   Sometimes dubbed the Hummingbird Galaxy for its iconic shape, NGC 2936
   is not only being deflected but also being distorted by the close
   gravitational interaction. Behind filaments of dark interstellar dust,
   bright blue stars form the nose of the hummingbird, while the center of
   the spiral appears as an eye. Alternatively, the galaxy pair, together
   known as Arp 142, look to some like Porpoise or a penguin protecting an
   egg. The featured re-processed image showing Arp 142 in great detail
   was taken recently by the Hubble Space Telescope. Arp 142 lies about
   300 million light years away toward the constellation of the Water
   Snake (Hydra). In a billion years or so the two galaxies will likely
   merge into one larger galaxy.

                     Tomorrow's picture: big blue horse
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
                NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
 * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
SEEN-BY: 1/19 123 15/0 16/0 19/10 37 90/1 105/81 106/201 123/130 131
SEEN-BY: 129/305 134/100 142/104 153/135 143 757 802 6809 7715 203/0
SEEN-BY: 218/700 840 221/1 6 242 360 226/30 227/114 229/110 112 113
SEEN-BY: 229/206 307 317 400 426 428 470 664 700 240/5832 266/512
SEEN-BY: 280/5003 5006 282/1038 291/111 301/1 305/3 317/3 320/119
SEEN-BY: 320/219 319 2119 322/0 757 335/364 341/66 342/200 396/45
SEEN-BY: 423/81 460/58 633/280 712/848 5020/400 5075/35
PATH: 153/757 221/6 1 320/219 229/426