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.

                               2022 February 7
      [2]The featured image shows a galactic merger together called the
      Umbrella Galaxy because the remnants of one galaxy have been left
   looking like an umbrella hovering over the other galaxy. Please see the
                 explanation for more detailed information.

                        NGC 4651: The Umbrella Galaxy
    Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]CFHT, [5]Coelum, [6]MegaCam, [7]J.-C.
            Cuillandre ([8]CFHT) & [9]G. A. Anselmi ([10]Coelum)

   Explanation: It's raining stars. What appears to be a giant cosmic
   umbrella is now known to be a tidal stream of stars stripped from a
   small [11]satellite galaxy. The main galaxy, spiral galaxy [12]NGC
   4651, is about the size of our [13]Milky Way, while its stellar parasol
   appears to extend some 100 thousand light-years above this galaxy's
   bright disk. A small galaxy was likely torn apart by [14]repeated
   encounters as it swept back and forth on [15]eccentric orbits through
   NGC 4651. The remaining stars will surely fall back and become part of
   a [16]combined larger galaxy over the next few million years. The
   [17]featured image was [18]captured by the [19]Canada-France-Hawaii
   Telescope (CFHT) in [20]Hawaii, [21]USA. The [22]Umbrella Galaxy lies
   about 50 million [23]light-years distant toward the [24]well-groomed
   northern constellation [25]Coma Berenices.

                Almost Hyperspace: [26]Random APOD Generator
                      Tomorrow's picture: vote the sky
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    Authors & editors: [38]Robert Nemiroff ([39]MTU) & [40]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([41]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [42]Specific rights apply.
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                A service of: [44]ASD at [45]NASA / [46]GSFC
                           & [47]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2202/NGC4651_CFHT_1587.jpg
   3. https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/HawaiianStarlight/CFHT_WWW_Copyright.html
   4. https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/
   5. http://www.coelum.com/
   6. https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/Instruments/Imaging/Megacam/
   7. http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/~jcc/
   8. https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/
   9. http://www.coelum.com/coelum/autori/giovanni-anselmi
  10. http://www.coelum.com/
  11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_galaxy
  12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_4651
  13. https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/milkyway1.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130514.html
  15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_eccentricity#/media/File:Animation_of_Orbital_eccentricity.gif
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120604.html
  17. https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/hawaiianstarlight/AIOM/English/CFHT-Coelum-AIOM-Apr2015.html
  18. https://youtu.be/NAuycMXDM4U
  19. https://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/en/about/
  20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii
  21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States
  22. https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2020/hubble-captures-a-cannibal-galaxy
  23. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/
  24. https://www.preventivevet.com/hubfs/how to brush your cat.png
  25. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coma_Berenices
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/random_apod.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220206.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  31. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  36. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220207
  37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220208.html
  38. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  39. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  40. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  41. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  42. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  43. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  44. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  45. https://www.nasa.gov/
  46. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  47. http://www.mtu.edu/