Subj : Daily APOD Report To : All From : Ben Ritchey Date : Tue Dec 11 2018 15:41:51 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 December 11 [2] Arp 188 and the Tadpole's Tail Image Credit: Hubble Legacy Archive [3] , ESA [4] , NASA [5] ; Processing: Faus Márquez [6] (AAE [7] ) Explanation: Why does this galaxy have such a long tail [8] ? In this stunning vista, based on image data from the Hubble Legacy Archive, distant galaxies form a dramatic backdrop for disrupted spiral galaxy Arp [9] 188, the Tadpole Galaxy. The cosmic tadpole is [10] a mere 420 million light-years distant toward the northern constellation of the Dragon ( Draco [11] ). Its eye-catching tail is about 280 thousand light-years [12] long and features massive, bright blue star clusters. One story [13] goes that a more compact intruder galaxy [14] crossed in front of Arp 188 - from right to left in this view - and was slung around [15] behind the Tadpole by their gravitational attraction. During the close encounter [16] , tidal forces drew out the spiral galaxy's [17] stars, gas, and dust forming the spectacular tail. The intruder [18] galaxy itself, estimated to lie about 300 thousand light-years behind the Tadpole, can be seen through foreground spiral arms at the upper right. Following [19] its terrestrial namesake [20] , the Tadpole Galaxy [21] will likely lose its tail [22] as it grows older, the tail's star clusters forming smaller satellites of the large spiral galaxy. New: Instagram page features cool images recently submitted to APOD [23] Tomorrow's picture: orion falls ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- < [24] | Archive [25] | Submissions [26] | Index [27] | Search [28] | Calendar [29] | RSS [30] | Education [31] | About APOD [32] | Discuss [33] | > [34] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [35] (MTU [36] ) & Jerry Bonnell [37] (UMCP [38] ) NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [39] . NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [40] A service of: ASD [41] at NASA [42] / GSFC [43] & Michigan Tech. U. [44] ---------- Site notes: [1] archivepix.html [2] image/1812/Arp188Tadpole_HubbleMarquez_1150.jpg [3] http://hla.stsci.edu/ [4] http://www.esa.int/ [5] http://www.nasa.gov/ [6] mailto: faustim @at@ hotmail .dot. es [7] http://www.aaeivissa.com/ [8] https://d3pz1jifuab5zg.cloudfront.net/2017/01/18132448/ keon-longest-tail-main1.jpg [9] http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Arp/frames.html [10] http://hubblesite.org/image/1181/news_release/2002-11 [11] http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/ constellations/constellations/Draco.html [12] https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html [13] http://www.boop.org/jan/justso/ [14] http://mergers.galaxyzoo.org/ [15] ap150201.html [16] ap120812.html [17] ap120604.html [18] ap970224.html [19] http://www.exploratorium.edu/frogs/ [20] http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/metindex.htm [21] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadpole_Galaxy [22] http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1972ApJ...178..623T [23] https://www.instagram.com/universe_view_screen/ [24] ap181210.html [25] archivepix.html [26] lib/apsubmit2015.html [27] lib/aptree.html [28] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search [29] calendar/allyears.html [30] /apod.rss [31] lib/edlinks.html [32] lib/about_apod.html [33] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=181211 [34] ap181212.html [35] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html [36] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ [37] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html [38] http://www.astro.umd.edu/ [39] lib/about_apod.html#srapply [40] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html [41] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ [42] https://www.nasa.gov/ [43] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ [44] http://www.mtu.edu/ --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A40 (Windows/32) * Origin: FIDONet - The Positronium Repository (1:393/68) .