APOD: 2026 September 4 – Na Uhane Mahoe Huki Pu i ke Ola
APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 4 – Na… 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. Nā ʻUhane […]
On September 4, 2026, the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) featured an image of two spiral galaxies, NGC 7253 and Arp 278, in a mutual gravitational embrace. Located 200 million light-years away in the constellation Pegasus, the merging galaxies were captured by the 8.1-meter Gemini North telescope on Maunakea, Hawai‘i. The image was produced by the International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab and is credited to J. Miller, M. Rodriguez, J. Bonnell, C. Chirenti, R. Nemiroff, and K. Rockcliffe.
The Hawaiian name for this celestial phenomenon, Nā ʻUhane Māhoe Huki Pū i ke Ola, translates to "The Twin Spirits Pulling Together Creating Life." This name is fitting for the cosmic event, as galaxy collisions trigger a surge of star formation from the galaxies' reservoirs of elemental building blocks of life. The merging galaxies are part of the Hawaiian navigational constellation Ka Lupe o Kawelo.
Written by urgent.news from NASA's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- APOD: 2026 September 4 – Nā ʻUhane Māhoe Huki Pū i ke Ola science.nasa.gov
