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.

                              2020 February 19
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                UGC 12591: The Fastest Rotating Galaxy Known
      Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]Hubble; Processing & Copyright:
                                [6]Leo Shatz

   Explanation: Why does this galaxy spin so fast? To start, even
   identifying which type of galaxy [7]UGC 12591 is difficult -- featured
   on the lower left, it has dark dust lanes like a spiral galaxy but a
   large diffuse bulge of stars like a [8]lenticular. [9]Surprisingly
   observations show that [10]UGC 12591 spins at about 480 km/sec, almost
   twice as fast as our [11]Milky Way, and the fastest rotation rate yet
   measured. The mass needed to hold together a galaxy spinning this fast
   is several times the mass of our [12]Milky Way Galaxy. Progenitor
   scenarios for [13]UGC 12591 include [14]slow growth by accreting
   ambient matter, or rapid growth through a recent [15]galaxy collision
   or [16]collisions -- future observations may tell. The light we see
   today from UGC 12591 left about [17]400 million years ago, when
   [18]trees were first developing on [19]Earth.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: [31]Robert Nemiroff ([32]MTU) & [33]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([34]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [35]Specific rights apply.
              [36]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [37]ASD at [38]NASA / [39]GSFC
                           & [40]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2002/UGC12951_HubbleShatz_2019.jpg
   3. http://www.nasa.gov/
   4. http://www.esa.int/
   5. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/index.html
   6. https://www.astrobin.com/users/spinlock/
   7. http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1709a/
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap020408.html
   9. http://www.dvsjr.com/Home-alone-dog-destroys-toilet-paper.jpg
  10. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013hst..prop13370G/abstract
  11. https://www.nasa.gov/jpl/charting-the-milky-way-from-the-inside-out
  12. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/galaxy-location.html
  13. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1986ApJ...301L...7G/abstract
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120717.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150419.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130514.html
  17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devonian
  18. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100713.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200218.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  29. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=200219
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200220.html
  31. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  33. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  34. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  37. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/
  39. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  40. http://www.mtu.edu/