Arp 220

Arp 220 is a irregular galaxy located approximately 250 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Serpens. Its coordinates in the sky are right ascension 233.738° and declination 23.503°, and it is catalogued in the Arp Catalogue of Peculiar Galaxies.

The light reaching Earth from Arp 220 today left the galaxy roughly 250 million years ago. What you see in telescope imagery is a snapshot of the galaxy as it appeared before most of Earth’s mammalian history.

Through the Galactic Registry, you can symbolically dedicate Arp 220 in a name, memory, or message of your choosing. Your dedication is filed permanently in our public registry and printed on an archival 12″×18″ cotton-stock certificate, shipped worldwide. This is not an official IAU renaming — only the International Astronomical Union can officially name celestial bodies — but it is a permanent symbolic act tied to a galaxy that demonstrably exists, can be pointed at from any observatory on Earth, and has been imaged by NASA, ESA, or a ground-based telescope.