September 4, 2026
The Moon has changed phase thousands of times since the beginning of the cosmos, but only once did it shine on the night you arrived.
Nā ʻUhane Māhoe Huki Pū i ke Ola
Birthday · September 4, 2026
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published September 4, 2026. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
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