Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]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.

                                2025 March 12
      [2]A dark field is filled with stars and galaxies. A large spiral
   galaxy appears on the upper left. Toward the right, there is a smaller
        fuzzy patch that is a comet with a short tail. Please see the
                 explanation for more detailed information.

                       NGC 772: The Fiddlehead Galaxy
      Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Jean-François Bax & Serge Brunier,
           [4]OCA/C2PU; Text: Ogetay Kayali ([5]Michigan Tech U.)

   Explanation: Why does this galaxy look like a [6]curly vegetable? The
   [7]Fiddlehead spiral galaxy likely gets its distorted spiral appearance
   from a [8]gravitational interaction with its close-by elliptical
   companion [9]NGC 770, seen just below. Cataloged as NGC 772 and Arp 78,
   the Fiddlehead spans over 200,000 light years, is a nearby 100 million
   light years beyond the stars of our Milky Way galaxy, and is visible
   toward the [10]constellation of the Ram (Aries). But in the
   [11]featured image, the Fiddlehead appears to have another companion --
   one with a long and fuzzy tail: [12]Comet 43P/Wolf-Harrington. Though
   the comet appears to be aimed straight at the massive galaxy, it is
   actually much closer to us, residing only [13]light minutes away --
   well within our Solar System. The comet will never reach the distant
   spiral galaxy, nor is it [14]physically related to it. By a fortunate
   trick of perspective, though, these two cosmic wonders briefly share
   the same frame taken late last year from [15]Calern, [16]France.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [28]Robert Nemiroff ([29]MTU) & [30]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([31]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [32]Specific rights apply.
            [33]NASA Web Privacy, [34]Accessibility, [35]Notices;
                A service of: [36]ASD at [37]NASA / [38]GSFC,
                         [39]NASA Science Activation
                           & [40]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2503/NGC772Comet_Bax_4724.jpg
   3. https://www.astrobin.com/users/jeffbax/
   4. https://www.oca.eu/fr/c2pu-accueil
   5. https://www.mtu.edu/physics/
   6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddlehead
   7. https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-spots-a-curious-spiral/
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201203.html
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_770#/media/File:NGC_0770_SDSS.jpg
  10. https://www.britannica.com/place/Aries
  11. https://www.astrobin.com/gcz15v/0/
  12. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=43P/Wolf-Harrington
  13. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/
  14. https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/cztlvz/precious_gang_of_two_real_cats_and_a_fake_one/#lightbox
  15. https://youtu.be/bnQzW7TEtPQ
  16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250311.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  21. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  23. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  26. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250312
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250313.html
  28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  29. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  31. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  36. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  37. https://www.nasa.gov/
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  39. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  40. http://www.mtu.edu/