APOD: 2022 March 31 - Exploring the Antennae

Good afternoon, Rallypoint, and welcome to the March 31st Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD): "Exploring the Antennae." The scene of this cosmic collision unfolds some 60 million light years away in the southerly constellation Corvus (The Crow). This composite image is based on 88 hours of exposure time during 2012-2021, and first appeared here in March 2021. The constellation is bordered by Virgo to the north and east and Hydra to the south.

Did you realize there was a 'crow' in the sky? I didn't either. In Greek mythology, crows use to have beautiful silver plumage and they were able to speak in human tongue. They were the sacred birds of Apollo (the god of light, music, poetry, healing, prophecy, eloquence, truth and manly beauty). The beautiful maiden Coronis caught the eye of Apollo, and soon the world was introduced to their son Esclepius (the god of medicine and healing). Coronis herself had a roaming eye, and soon took a human paramour. One of Apollo's crows reported the illicit affair to the god, who in a fit of rage but soon Coronis lost interest in her divine lover Apollo. A crow bore the fateful news to the god, who in a fit of rage punished the faithful crow by turning his feathers black, removing his ability to speak, and throwing the bird into the sky. I bet a fair amount of ouzo was involved in coming up with that story.