Subj : Daily APOD Report To : All From : Ben Ritchey Date : Tue Aug 14 2018 09:26:04 Astronomy Picture of the Day Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2018 August 14 [2] M86 in the Central Virgo Cluster Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson [3] , Stan Watson Obs. Explanation: Is there a bridge of gas connecting these two great galaxies? Quite possibly, but it is hard to be sure. M86 [4] on the upper left is a giant elliptical galaxy [5] near the center of the nearby Virgo Cluster [6] of galaxies. Our Milky Way Galaxy is falling toward the Virgo Cluster [7] , located about 50 million light years [8] away. To the lower right of M86 [9] is unusual spiral galaxy NGC 4438, which, together with angular neighbor NGC 4435, are known as the Eyes Galaxies [10] (also Arp 120). Featured here [11] is one of the deeper images yet taken of the region, indicating that red-glowing gas surrounds M86 and seemingly connects [12] it to NGC 4438. The image spans about the size of the full moon. It is also known, however, that cirrus gas [13] in our own Galaxy [14] is superposed in front [15] of the Virgo cluster [16] , and observations of the low speed of this gas seem more consistent [17] with this Milky Way origin hypothesis. A definitive answer may come from future research [18] , which may also resolve how the extended blue arms of NGC 4435 were created. Open Science: Browse 1,750+ codes in the Astrophysics Source Code Library [19] Tomorrow's picture: open space ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- < [20] | Archive [21] | Submissions [22] | Index [23] | Search [24] | Calendar [25] | RSS [26] | Education [27] | About APOD [28] | Discuss [29] | > [30] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [31] (MTU [32] ) & Jerry Bonnell [33] (UMCP [34] ) NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [35] . NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [36] A service of: ASD [37] at NASA [38] / GSFC [39] & Michigan Tech. U. [40] ---------- Site notes: [1] archivepix.html [2] image/1808/M86Eyes_Hanson_1143.jpg [3] https://www.hansonastronomy.com/bio/ [4] ap080425.html [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliptical_galaxy [6] ap170624.html [7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgocentric_flow [8] https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/en/ [9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_86 [10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyes_Galaxies [11] https://www.hansonastronomy.com/m86-group [12] http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008ApJ...687L..69K [13] https://www.cosmotography.com/images/galactic_cirrus.html [14] ap100322.html [15] ap180108.html [16] ap050926.html [17] http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010MNRAS.403L..26C [18] http://www.eclipsechaser.com/eclink/image/ecmisc/mosquess.jpg [19] http://ascl.net/code/all [20] ap180813.html [21] archivepix.html [22] lib/apsubmit2015.html [23] lib/aptree.html [24] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search [25] calendar/allyears.html [26] /apod.rss [27] lib/edlinks.html [28] lib/about_apod.html [29] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=180814 [30] ap180815.html [31] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html [32] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ [33] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html [34] http://www.astro.umd.edu/ [35] lib/about_apod.html#srapply [36] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html [37] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ [38] https://www.nasa.gov/ [39] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ [40] http://www.mtu.edu/ --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A39 (Windows/32) * Origin: FIDONet - The Positronium Repository (1:393/68) .