Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]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 June 30
     [2]A spiral galaxy is shown with an unusual feature. Faint wisps of
    stars are seen both above and below the galaxy. A wisp above appears
       like an umbrella. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                        NGC 4651: The Umbrella Galaxy
             Image Credit: [3]Rabeea Alkuwari & [4]Anas Almajed

   Explanation: It's raining stars. What appears to be a giant cosmic
   umbrella is now known to be a tidal stream of stars stripped from a
   small [5]satellite galaxy. The main galaxy, spiral galaxy [6]NGC 4651,
   is about the size of our [7]Milky Way, while its stellar parasol
   appears to extend some 100 thousand light-years above this galaxy's
   bright disk. A small galaxy was likely torn apart by [8]repeated
   encounters as it swept back and forth on [9]eccentric orbits through
   NGC 4651. The remaining stars will surely fall back and become part of
   a [10]combined larger galaxy over the next few million years. The
   [11]featured deep image was [12]captured in long exposures from
   [13]Saudi Arabia. The Umbrella Galaxy lies about 50 million
   [14]light-years distant toward the [15]well-groomed northern
   constellation of Berenice's Hair ([16]Coma Berenices).

                   APOD in a Modern Format [17]StellarSnap
                    Tomorrow's picture: eye sky a dragon
     __________________________________________________________________

      [18]< | [19]Archive | [20]Submissions | [21]Index | [22]Search |
   [23]Calendar | [24]RSS | [25]Education | [26]About APOD | [27]Discuss |
                                    [28]>
     __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: [29]Robert Nemiroff ([30]MTU) & [31]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([32]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [33]Specific rights apply.
            [34]NASA Web Privacy, [35]Accessibility, [36]Notices;
                A service of: [37]ASD at [38]NASA / [39]GSFC,
                         [40]NASA Science Activation
                           & [41]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2506/UmbrellaGal_Alkuwari_3843.png
   3. https://www.instagram.com/bolahdan/
   4. https://www.instagram.com/anas_almajed/
   5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_galaxy
   6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_4651
   7. https://science.nasa.gov/resource/the-milky-way-galaxy/
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130514.html
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_eccentricity#/media/File:Animation_of_Orbital_eccentricity.gif
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120604.html
  11. https://www.instagram.com/p/DJ3wrYQMF7Q/
  12. https://youtu.be/NAuycMXDM4U
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia
  14. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/
  15. https://www.preventivevet.com/hubfs/how to brush your cat.png
  16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coma_Berenices
  17. https://stellarsnap.space/
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250629.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  22. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  24. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  27. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250630
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250701.html
  29. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  30. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  31. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  32. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  37. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/
  39. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  40. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  41. http://www.mtu.edu/