Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2024 November 7 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Shell Galaxies in Pisces Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]George Williams Explanation: [5]This spectacular intergalactic skyscape features Arp 227, a curious system of galaxies from the 1966 [6]Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. Some 100 million light-years distant within the boundaries of the constellation Pisces, Arp 227 consists of the two galaxies prominent above and left of center, the [7]shell galaxy NGC 474 and its blue, spiral-armed neighbor NGC 470. The readily apparent shells and star streams of [8]NGC 474 are likely tidal features originating from the accretion of another smaller galaxy during close gravitational encounters that began over a billion years ago. The large galaxy on the bottom righthand side of the deep image, NGC 467, appears to be surrounded by faint shells and streams too, evidence of another [9]merging galaxy system. Intriguing background galaxies are scattered around the field that also includes spiky foreground stars. Of course, those stars lie well within our own [10]Milky Way Galaxy. The telescopic field of view spans 25 arc minutes or just under 1/2 degree [11]on the sky. Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space __________________________________________________________________ [12]< | [13]Archive | [14]Submissions | [15]Index | [16]Search | [17]Calendar | [18]RSS | [19]Education | [20]About APOD | [21]Discuss | [22]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [23]Robert Nemiroff ([24]MTU) & [25]Jerry Bonnell ([26]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [27]Specific rights apply. [28]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [29]ASD at [30]NASA / [31]GSFC, [32]NASA Science Activation & [33]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2411/NGC474_S1_Crop.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.astrobin.com/users/KuriousGeorge/ 5. https://www.astrobin.com/huresx/ 6. http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Arp/Arp_contents.html 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180206.html 8. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2022A&A...660A..28B/abstract 9. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30955 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080104.html 11. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/scale.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241106.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 16. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 21. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=241107 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241108.html 23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 26. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 28. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 29. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 30. https://www.nasa.gov/ 31. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 32. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 33. http://www.mtu.edu/