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.

                              2024 December 31
   [2]A dark field shows an oblong orange glow with some dark and complex
       dust lanes running through. Please see the explanation for more
                            detailed information.

                        The Twisted Disk of NGC 4753
     Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]Hubble; Processing: [6]Alexander
                                  Reinartz

   Explanation: What do you think this is? Here’s a clue: it's bigger than
   a bread box. [7]Much bigger. The answer is that pictured [8]NGC 4753 is
   a [9]twisted disk galaxy, where unusual [10]dark dust filaments provide
   clues about its history. No one is sure what happened, but a
   [11]leading model holds that a relatively normal disk galaxy
   gravitationally ripped apart a dusty [12]satellite galaxy while its
   [13]precession distorted the plane of the [14]accreted debris as it
   rotated. The [15]cosmic collision is [16]hypothesized to have started
   about a billion years ago. [17]NGC 4753 is seen from the side, and
   possibly would look like a normal spiral galaxy from the top. The
   bright orange [18]halo is composed of many older stars that might trace
   [19]dark matter. The featured [20]Hubble image was recently reprocessed
   to highlight [21]ultraviolet and red-light emissions.

    APOD Year in Review: [22]NASA Night Sky Network Presentation for 2024
                      Tomorrow's picture: nearby triple
     __________________________________________________________________

      [23]< | [24]Archive | [25]Submissions | [26]Index | [27]Search |
   [28]Calendar | [29]RSS | [30]Education | [31]About APOD | [32]Discuss |
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     __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: [34]Robert Nemiroff ([35]MTU) & [36]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([37]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [38]Specific rights apply.
            [39]NASA Web Privacy, [40]Accessibility, [41]Notices;
                A service of: [42]ASD at [43]NASA / [44]GSFC,
                         [45]NASA Science Activation
                           & [46]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2412/NGC4753_HubbleReinartz_3900.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://www.esa.int/
   5. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble
   6. mailto: areinartz89 at gmail dot com
   7. https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https://preview.redd.it/bp1czz6s0tx51.jpg?auto=webp&s=3619b12d7db6dbc232addfd27eabeb9c866de019
   8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_4753
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241218.html
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241126.html
  11. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1992AJ....104.1339S/abstract
  12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_galaxy
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240616.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/
  16. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1992AJ....104.1339S/abstract
  17. https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2403/
  18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_halo
  19. https://science.nasa.gov/universe/overview/building-blocks/#dark-matter
  20. https://esahubble.org/images/potw2420a/
  21. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves/
  22. https://youtu.be/CHhiJoOcInY
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241230.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  29. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  32. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=241231
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250101.html
  34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  36. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  37. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  39. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  42. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  43. https://www.nasa.gov/
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  45. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  46. http://www.mtu.edu/