Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

NGC 3310: A Starburst Spiral Galaxy

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for March 1, 2016 is “NGC 3310: A Starburst Spiral Galaxy,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Image Credit & Copyright: AAO ITSO Office , Gemini Obs. / AURA & T. A. Rector ( U. Alaska Anchorage )). The original explanation runs about 140 words.

NGC 3310: A Starburst Spiral Galaxy
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: AAO ITSO Office , Gemini Obs. / AURA & T. A. Rector ( U. Alaska Anchorage ) Copyrighted Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“The party is still going on in spiral galaxy NGC 3310. Roughly 100 million years ago, NGC 3310 likely collided with a smaller galaxy causing the large spiral galaxy to light up with a tremendous burst of star formation .”

— APOD editors, March 1, 2016

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
March 1, 2016
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: AAO ITSO Office , Gemini Obs. / AURA & T. A. Rector ( U. Alaska Anchorage )
Copyright
Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 140 words

All of March 2016 → · 2016 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Galaxies

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: March 1 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.