Discover the cosmosEach day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Explanation:Nā ‘Uhane Māhoe Huki Pū i ke Ola, is the Hawaiian name given to this image of a pair of spiral galaxies locked in a mutual gravitational embrace.
Some 200 million light-years distant toward the high flying constellation Pegasus their spectacular, galactic scale merger is captured in sharp detail in the image from the 8.1 meter Gemini Northtelescope on Maunakea, Hawai‘i.
The galaxy pair, known as NGC 7253 and Arp 278, was chosen as a target, researched, and given an Hawaiian name by high school students in the joint Gemini Observatory and University of Hawai‘iProject Hōkūlaniinternship program.
The name translates to “The Twin Spirits Pulling Together Creating Life”.
That’s both culturally and astronomically appropriate forgalaxy collisionsthat trigger a cosmicmaelstrom of star formationfrom galactic reservoirs of elemental building blocks of life.
These merging galaxiesare found within a region of Pegasus identified as the Hawaiian navigational constellationKa Lupe o Kawelo.
APOD’s main NASA site ismoving:Fromapod.nasa.govtoscience.nasa.gov/apod Tomorrow’s picture:chasing shadows