Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

The Eyes in Markarian's Galaxy Chain

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for March 20, 2024 is “The Eyes in Markarian's Galaxy Chain,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby). The original explanation runs about 145 words.

Two large galaxies are pictured. On the left is a distorted spiral galaxy, while on the right is a relatively featureless yellow disk galaxy. Together, these galaxies may look, to some, like a pair of eyes. Please see the explanation for mo
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby Copyrighted Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Across the heart of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster lies a string of galaxies known as Markarian’s Chain . Prominent in Markarian’s Chain are these two interacting galaxies , NGC 4438 (left) and NGC 4435 – also known as The Eyes.”

— APOD editors, March 20, 2024

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
March 20, 2024
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby
Copyright
Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 145 words

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Topics in this entry

Galaxies

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

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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.