                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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.

                                 2026 July 3

                           Three Galaxies in Pavo
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby

   Explanation: Some 190 million light-years away, far beyond the bright
   stars and nebulae of the Milky Way, these three galaxies are drawn
   together by gravity in a mesmerizing cosmic dance. Clearly distorted by
   galactic-scale gravitational interactions, large spiral galaxies
   NGC6769 and NGC6770 are seen face-on, with luminous galactic disks
   scarred by obscuring interstellar dust lanes. Their young blue star
   clusters along drawn out spiral arms are spawned in star forming
   regions that result from collisions of massive molecular clouds. Below,
   spiral NGC6771 presents a more edge-on perspective, its boxy central
   bulge due to tidal star streams. Of course, in the distant future a
   merger of the three galaxies is inevitable. At the estimated distance
   of this galaxy trio, known to some as the Devil's Mask, the sharp
   telescopic frame spans over 300 thousand light-years within the
   boundaries of the far southern constellation Pavo.

                 Tomorrow's picture: beach balls from Earth
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

