APOD: 2026 September 30 – Arp 78: Peculiar Galaxy in Aries - NASA Science

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 30 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss   APOD 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. Arp 78: Peculiar Galaxy in Aries Explanation: Peculiar spiral galaxy Arp 78 is found within the boundaries of the head strong constellation Aries . Some 100 million light-years beyond the stars and nebulae of our Milky Way galaxy, the island universe is an enormous 200,000 light-years across. Also known as NGC 772 , it sports a prominent, outer spiral arm in this detailed cosmic portrait . Tracking along sweeping dust lanes and lined with young blue star clusters, Arp 78’s overdeveloped spiral arm is pumped-up by galactic-scale gravitational tides. Interactions with its brightest companion galaxy, the more compact NGC 770 seen directly below the larger spiral, are likely responsible. Embedded in faint star streams revealed in the deep telescopic exposure, NGC 770’s fuzzy, elliptical appearance contrasts nicely with spiky foreground Milky Way stars. APOD’s email for image submissions has changed. Please see: APOD Submissions . Tomorrow’s picture: a harvest Date September 30, 2026 Credit & Copyright Robert Eder Authors & editors: Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Robert Nemiroff, Keighley Rockcliffe A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC , NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. Random APOD Generator Yesterday’s Image APOD: 2026 September 29 – Sh2-188: The Shrimp Nebula Tomorrow’s Image — Company newsroom — sourced from NASA. Matter furnished by the company. Not a Notice Nearby paid placement. This page reprints matter furnished by the company from its official newsroom. Notice Nearby did not write this release. Read the original: https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2026-september-30-arp-78-peculiar-galaxy-in-aries