Hawaii Students Name Interacting Galaxies Nā ʻUhane Māhoe Huki Pū i ke Ola

Captured by the 8.1-meter Gemini North telescope on Maunakea, a striking pair of interacting spiral galaxies designated NGC 7253 and Arp 278 merges roughly 200 million light-years away. High school interns named the cosmic pairing Nā ʻUhane Māhoe Huki Pū i ke Ola, translating to The Twin Spirits Pulling Together Creating Life.

Discovering Nā ʻUhane Māhoe Huki Pū i ke Ola on Maunakea

High school students participating in a joint internship program through the Gemini Observatory and the University of Hawaiʻi, known as Project Hōkūlani, selected and researched the celestial target. The student researchers hailed from Waiākea High School and the Volcano School of Arts and Sciences, gaining direct access to the Gemini North Telescope situated on the Maunakea volcano in Hawaii — a very popular and often controversial location for ground-based telescopes.

The chosen moniker, Nā ʻUhane Māhoe Huki Pū i ke Ola, translates directly to English as The Twin Spirits Pulling Together Creating Life.

ʻUhane (spirit) was an important theme for our group. Our experiences throughout the week — ʻoli (stargazing), visiting the summit and learning about the awesome scientific discoveries made possible by Maunakea — ignited our own spirits as we prepare for life after high school,

Samantha Silva-Sampaio, one of the students

The students also explain how the rest of the name fits in with their time at Gemini North, noting that “Huki Pūhas to do with the physical aspect of the two galaxies being pulled together, just like communities coming together to enable the discovery as a whole. Andi ke Ola” is meant to show that life can be created from interacting galaxies because this process gives rise to star birth, and hopefully we’ll find a star besides the sun one day that hosts life on a world around it.

Galactic Mechanics Within the Constellation Pegasus

Formally cataloged as NGC 7253 and also referenced as Arp 278, the interacting spiral system sits approximately 200 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus. The pair resides specifically toward the high flying constellation Pegasus, in a region also known as the Hawaiian navigational constellation Ka Lupe o Kawelo.

It is nearly impossible to fathom the entirety of a single galaxy — these realms can span hundreds of thousands of light-years, and sometimes are even millions of light-years across. Capturing two distinct systems locked in a mutual gravitational embrace yields exceptional structural detail, showing sharply defined spiral arms during their gravitational interaction.

Galaxy mergers aren’t a new thing, though. They occur all across the universe, and indeed even the Milky Way and our neighboring galaxy Andromeda are expected to collide (or maybe not?) at some point in the future. But not to fear — though it may not seem it from this image, within every galaxy is, well, a lot of space. So much so that it’d be surprising for anything in the colliding galaxies to actually smash together.

Star Formation and Cultural Convergence in Astronomy

What does happen, however, is enchanting. All the interstellar gas and dust from both galaxies join together and lead to a spike in star formation. This means a ton of beautiful sparkles should decorate the final product of NGC 7253, as these galactic reservoirs of elemental building blocks of life trigger a cosmic maelstrom of star formation.

“‘Uhane in this image reminds us that astronomy is not just science or spirit; it’s both at the same time,”

Manu Silva-Sampaio, another one of the student discoverers