NASA · Space

Arp 78: Peculiar Galaxy in Aries

The Astronomy Picture of the Day features Arp 78, a peculiar spiral galaxy located in the constellation Aries, approximately 100 million light-years away.

Arp 78, also known as NGC 772, spans an impressive 200,000 light-years across. It is characterized by a prominent, overdeveloped outer spiral arm.

This enhanced spiral arm is traced by dust lanes and young blue star clusters, and is believed to be influenced by gravitational tides from interactions with its companion galaxy, NGC 770.

NGC 770, a more compact elliptical galaxy, is situated directly below Arp 78. It appears fuzzy and is embedded in faint star streams visible in deep telescopic images.

The image also shows spiky foreground stars from our own Milky Way galaxy, contrasting with the appearance of NGC 770.

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