                        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.

                                2026 March 27

                              Hickson 44 in Leo
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Peter Kennett

   Explanation: Scanning the skies for galaxies, Canadian astronomer Paul
   Hickson and colleagues identified some 100 compact groups of galaxies,
   now appropriately called Hickson Compact Groups. The four prominent
   galaxies seen in this intriguing telescopic skyscape are one such
   group, Hickson 44. The Hickson 44 galaxy group is about 100 million
   light-years distant, far beyond the foreground Milky Way stars, toward
   the northern springtime constellation Leo. The two spiral galaxies in
   the center of the image are edge-on NGC 3190 with distinctive, warped
   dust lanes, and S-shaped NGC 3187. Along with the bright elliptical,
   NGC 3193 (left) they are also known as Arp 316. The spiral toward the
   lower right corner is NGC 3185, the 4th member of the Hickson group.
   Like other galaxies in Hickson groups, these show signs of distortion
   and enhanced star formation, evidence of a gravitational tug of war
   that will eventually result in galaxy mergers on a cosmic timescale.
   The merger process is now understood to be a normal part of the
   evolution of galaxies, including our own Milky Way. For scale, NGC 3190
   is about 75,000 light-years across at the estimated distance of Hickson
   44.

               Tomorrow's picture: reaching extreme altitudes
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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