NASA News · September 4, 2026
APOD: 2026 September 4 – Na Uhane Mahoe Huki Pu i ke Ola
Where it is in your sky
- Object
- NGC 7253 · Galaxy pair
- Constellation
- Pegasus
- Best seen
- Evenings from June to October; highest at midnight in August
- Climbs above 20°
- From 41° S to the North Pole
- Never rises
- South of 61° S
Tonight from your location
From the source
Nā ʻUhane Māhoe Huki Pū i ke Ola, is the Hawaiian name given to this image of a pair of spiral galaxies locked in a mutual gravitational embrace. Some 200 million light-years distant toward the high flying constellation Pegasus their spectacular, galactic scale merger is captured in sharp detail in the image from the 8.1 meter Gemini North telescope on Maunakea, Hawai‘i. The galaxy pair, known as NGC 7253 and Arp 278, was chosen as a target, researched, and given a Hawaiian name by high school students in the joint Gemini Observatory and University of Hawaiʻi Project Hōkūlani internship program. The name translates to “The Twin Spirits Pulling Together Creating Life”. That’s both culturally and astronomically appropriate for galaxy collisions that trigger a cosmic maelstrom of star formation from galactic reservoirs of elemental building blocks of life. These merging galaxies are found within a region of Pegasus identified as the Hawaiian navigational constellation Ka Lupe o Kawelo.
APOD’s main NASA site is moving: From apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod Tomorrow’s picture: chasing shadows
From NASA News.
