Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Cartwheel Of Fortune

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 19, 1998 is “Cartwheel Of Fortune,” an image. It is credited to Credit: Kirk Borne (STScI), NASA. The original explanation runs about 187 words.

Cartwheel Of Fortune
Credit: Kirk Borne (STScI), NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“By chance, a collision of two galaxies has created a surprisingly recognizable shape on a cosmic scale – “The Cartwheel Galaxy” . The Cartwheel is part of a group of galaxies about 500 million light years away in the constellation Sculptor (two smaller galaxies in the group are visible on the right).”

— APOD editors, December 19, 1998

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
December 19, 1998
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Kirk Borne (STScI), NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 187 words

All of December 1998 → · 1998 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Galaxies

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: December 19 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.