Astronomy Picture of the Day: 01/11/14 - NGC 1316

When two galaxies collide, the aftereffects are typically noticeable to any outside onlookers (the tad pole galaxies and the Mice galaxies are two notable examples). However, the aftereffects are generally not nearly as peculiar as what we see here, with this unusual galaxy. NGC 1316 (its formal designation) is located about 75 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Fornax. This jumbled mess of a galaxy spans about 60,000 light-years across - making it much smaller than our home galaxy of the Milky Way - yet it contains exponentially more gas and dust, which give life to new stars.

Astronomers have deduced that this unique looking galaxy is actually an elliptical galaxy of epic proportions, but by a strange twist of fate, it just so happens to have the dark dust (or knot) lanes typically attributed to spiral galaxies -- suggesting that one or more of the galaxies absorbed by NGC 1316 were spiral in nature. Similarly, more evidence was uncovered to suggest that NGC 1316 is the result of several celestial collisions. This evidence comes in the form of several low-mass globular clusters found lurking within the vicinity of NGC 1316"s central region (yes, it has one). Many of the stars that inhabit the cluster still bear the scars of the long-ended mergers, especially as far as distribution is concerned.

Sources & Further Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/apod-ngc-1316/

Image Credit: P. Goudfrooij (STScI), Hubble Heritage Team, (STScI/AURA), ESA, NASA

Astronomy Picture of the Day: 12/01/13 - Messier 81

The grand spiral galaxy, known as Messier 81, is one of the brightest and most picturesque galaxies in our local corner of the universe. In this image, captured by Bernard Miller, it"s easy to understand how it got its title.

Here, we can easily make out the bright central core of the galaxy. Extending beyond the yellow-tinged hue of the galactic core, the sweeping dust lanes form a series of spiral arms. Beyond that, the spiral arms comprise a feature known as Arp"s Loop, which can be seen as it rises above the nucleus, extending up to the upper right. (In the opposite corner, a dwarf galaxy of M81 can be seen, dubbed Holmberg IX)

Arp"s Loop is thought to be a bridge of star formation material (such as gas and dust), which formed into a tidal tail after the galaxy underwent a gravitational encounter with an unseen neighbor. However, Some of this material may actually be indigenous to the Milky Way.

Sources & Additional Reading: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-120113/

Image Credit: Bernard Miller