                        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 April 10

                           Exploring the Antennae
   Image Credit & Copyright: Acquisition - Mike Selby Processing - Roberto
                                  Colombari

   Explanation: Some 60 million light-years away in the southerly
   constellation Corvus, two large galaxies are colliding. Stars in the
   two galaxies, cataloged as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039, very rarely collide
   in the course of the ponderous cataclysm that lasts for hundreds of
   millions of years. But the galaxies' large clouds of molecular gas and
   dust often do, triggering furious episodes of star formation near the
   center of the cosmic wreckage. Spanning over 50 thousand light-years,
   this stunning telescopic frame also reveals new star clusters and
   matter flung far from the scene of the accident by gravitational tidal
   forces. The remarkably sharp ground-based image follows the faint tidal
   tails and distant background galaxies in the field of view. The
   suggestive overall visual appearance of the extended arcing structures
   gives the galaxy pair, also known as Arp 244, its popular name - The
   Antennae.

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