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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.

                                 2025 May 7
    Two large galaxies are shown against a dark starfield. The galaxy on
     the upper left has blue spiral arms speckled with red nebulae. The
    galaxy on the lower right has a white line with red filaments on each
    side. Thin wisps cover some of the rest of the field. Please see the
                 explanation for more detailed information.

                         Galaxy Wars: M81 versus M82
     Image Credit & Copyright: Collaborative Astrophotography Team (CAT)

   Explanation: In the upper left corner, surrounded by blue arms and
   dotted with red nebulas, is spiral galaxy M81. In the lower right
   corner, marked by a light central line and surrounded by red glowing
   gas, is irregular galaxy M82. This stunning vista shows these two
   mammoth galaxies locked in gravitational combat, as they have been for
   the past billion years. The gravity from each galaxy dramatically
   affects the other during each hundred-million-year pass. Last go-round,
   M82's gravity likely raised density waves rippling around M81,
   resulting in the richness of M81's spiral arms. But M81 left M82 with
   violent star forming regions and colliding gas clouds so energetic the
   galaxy glows in X-rays. This big battle is seen from Earth through the
   faint glow of an Integrated Flux Nebula, a little studied complex of
   diffuse gas and dust clouds in our Milky Way Galaxy. In a few billion
   years, only one galaxy will remain.

                    Tomorrow's picture: incredible crab 1
     __________________________________________________________________

       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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