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                        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.

                              2024 December 31
     A dark field shows an oblong orange glow with some dark and complex
       dust lanes running through. Please see the explanation for more
                            detailed information.

                        The Twisted Disk of NGC 4753
       Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing: Alexander Reinartz

   Explanation: What do you think this is? HereCÇÖs a clue: it's bigger than
   a bread box. Much bigger. The answer is that pictured NGC 4753 is a
   twisted disk galaxy, where unusual dark dust filaments provide clues
   about its history. No one is sure what happened, but a leading model
   holds that a relatively normal disk galaxy gravitationally ripped apart
   a dusty satellite galaxy while its precession distorted the plane of
   the accreted debris as it rotated. The cosmic collision is hypothesized
   to have started about a billion years ago. NGC 4753 is seen from the
   side, and possibly would look like a normal spiral galaxy from the top.
   The bright orange halo is composed of many older stars that might trace
   dark matter. The featured Hubble image was recently reprocessed to
   highlight ultraviolet and red-light emissions.

      APOD Year in Review: NASA Night Sky Network Presentation for 2024
                      Tomorrow's picture: nearby triple
     __________________________________________________________________

       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.

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