Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

NGC 1316: After Galaxies Collide

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for May 17, 2022 is “NGC 1316: After Galaxies Collide,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Image Credit & Copyright: Capture: Greg Turgeon ; Processing: Kiko Fairbairn). The original explanation runs about 171 words.

The featured image shows a deep image of the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 1316 featuring many concentric shells which embed a smaller galaxy. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Capture: Greg Turgeon ; Processing: Kiko Fairbairn Copyrighted Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Astronomers turn detectives when trying to figure out the cause of startling sights like NGC 1316 . Investigations indicate that NGC 1316 is an enormous elliptical galaxy that started, about 100 million years ago, to devour a smaller spiral galaxy neighbor, NGC 1317 , just on the upper right.”

— APOD editors, May 17, 2022

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
May 17, 2022
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Capture: Greg Turgeon ; Processing: Kiko Fairbairn
Copyright
Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 171 words

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Topics in this entry

GalaxiesStar clusters

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: May 17 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.