# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C0Wn-7Iu0tm
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/10204143-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/0ab5d040e5.jpg
- **Posted:** 2023-12-02T14:10:44.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

We all have those days, amirite?

Compared to most spiral galaxies, this one looks a little lopsided. The classic, centered shape of spiral galaxies is one with a bulge of older stars in the middle and arms of young stars swirling outward. In this case, a neighboring galaxy is tugging this one’s blue arms off to the right.

Captured by NASAHubble, this dueling pair is located 120 million light-years away in the constellation Cepheus. It is not uncommon for galaxies to come close enough to engage in a celestial tug-of-war. Galaxies are not solid objects, so gravitational pull distorts their shape in a manner similar to pulling off a piece of cotton candy.

Image description: A large spiral galaxy takes up most of the image, skewed so that its center stretches towards its upper left. We see it face-on as a mix of cool blue and whitish-yellow light, with smoky brown dust lining its blue, spiraling arms. In the background, orange and white stars and galaxies dot the blackness of space.

Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, Paul Sell (University of Florida) 

#NASA #Galaxy #NASAHubble #Space #Astronomy #Spiral #Stars #TugOfWar #Cotton

## Stats

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## Tags

nasahubble, nasa, space, cotton, tugofwar, spiral, galaxy, stars, astronomy

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