Picture of the day - January 9, 2006

The Tadpole Galaxy

Photo courtesy of NASA. Today's picture features spiral galaxy Arp 188...commonly known as the Tadpole Galaxy. And just a casual glance makes it easy to see why we call it that! Its long "tail" and swirling clouds of stars, gas and dust make Arp 188 one of the most interesting galaxies in the universe. The Tadpole Galaxy is located some 420 million light years from earth in the constellation Draco. It most likely "grew" its 280 thousand light year long tail when another galaxy passed by just close enough for its gravitational force to "pull" lots of stars, dust and gas from Arp 188 into a long line extending away from the galaxy. As you can see, in addition to the Tadpole Galaxy there are numerous other galaxies and stars scattered throughout space in the background, and with billions of galaxies in the universe it is no wonder that they can be seen virtually everywhere you look in the night sky! This stunning image of Arp 188 is just one of the many thousands of spectacular pictures taken by the amazing Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera For Surveys.   Picture Of The Day Homepage | Submit a photo Interesting Articles