APOD: 2026 April 10 – Exploring the Antennae
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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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Tomorrow’s picture: light-weekend
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Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn
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