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. 2023 April 14 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Portrait of NGC 3628 Image Credit: Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Mike Selby & [5]Mark Hanson Explanation: Sharp telescopic views of [6]NGC 3628 show a puffy galactic disk divided by dark dust lanes. Of course, [7]this portrait of the magnificent, edge-on spiral galaxy puts some astronomers [8]in mind of its popular moniker, the Hamburger Galaxy. It also reveals a small galaxy nearby (below), likely a satellite of NGC 3628, and a very faint but extensive [9]tidal tail. The drawn out tail stretches for about 300,000 light-years, even beyond the left edge of the frame. NGC 3628 shares its neighborhood in the local universe with two other large spirals [10]M65 and [11]M66 in a grouping otherwise known as [12]the Leo Triplet. Gravitational [13]interactions with its cosmic neighbors are likely responsible for creating the tidal tail, as well as the extended flare and warp of this spiral's disk. The tantalizing [14]island universe itself is about 100,000 light-years across and 35 million light-years away in the northern springtime constellation Leo. Tomorrow's picture: Z is for Mars __________________________________________________________________ [15]< | [16]Archive | [17]Submissions | [18]Index | [19]Search | [20]Calendar | [21]RSS | [22]Education | [23]About APOD | [24]Discuss | [25]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [26]Robert Nemiroff ([27]MTU) & [28]Jerry Bonnell ([29]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [30]Specific rights apply. [31]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [32]ASD at [33]NASA / [34]GSFC, [35]NASA Science Activation & [36]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2304/NGC3628LRGBCDK1000+24March2023Small.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.facebook.com/masterdarksastro/ 5. https://www.hansonastronomy.com/ 6. http://messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/n3628.html 7. https://www.hansonastronomy.com/ngc-3628-cdk-1000 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap020807.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap121108.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070601.html 11. https://esahubble.org/images/heic1006a/ 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110803.html 13. https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2002/11/1181-Image.html?news=true 14. http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/March02/Gordon/Gordon2.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230413.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 19. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 24. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230414 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230415.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 29. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 31. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 32. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/ 34. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 35. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 36. http://www.mtu.edu/