Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2020 March 17
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                  M77: Spiral Galaxy with an Active Center
     Image Credit: [3]Hubble, [4]NASA, [5]ESA; Processing & [6]License:
                               [7]Judy Schmidt

   Explanation: What's happening in the center of nearby spiral galaxy
   M77? The face-on galaxy lies a mere 47 million [8]light-years away
   toward the constellation of the Sea Monster ([9]Cetus). At that
   estimated distance, this gorgeous [10]island universe is about 100
   thousand light-years across. Also known as [11]NGC 1068, its compact
   and very bright core is well studied by astronomers exploring the
   mysteries of [12]supermassive black holes in active [13]Seyfert
   galaxies. M77 and its active core glows bright at [14]x-ray,
   [15]ultraviolet, [16]visible, [17]infrared, and [18]radio wavelengths.
   The [19]featured sharp image of M77 was taken by the [20]Hubble Space
   Telescope and is dominated by the (visible) [21]red light emitted by
   [22]hydrogen. The image shows details of the spiral's [23]winding
   spiral arms as traced by [24]obscuring dust clouds, and red-tinted star
   forming regions close in to the galaxy's luminous core.

     Astrophysicists: [25]Browse 2,100+ codes in the Astrophysics Source
                                Code Library
                      Tomorrow's picture: amazing rays
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    Authors & editors: [37]Robert Nemiroff ([38]MTU) & [39]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([40]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [41]Specific rights apply.
              [42]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [43]ASD at [44]NASA / [45]GSFC
                           & [46]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2003/M77Halpha_HubbleSchmidt_2290.jpg
   3. https://hla.stsci.edu/
   4. https://www.nasa.gov/
   5. https://www.esa.int/
   6. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
   7. https://geckzilla.com/
   8. https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetus
  10. https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/March02/Gordon/Gordon2.html
  11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_77
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130312.html
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seyfert_galaxy
  14. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/11_xrays
  15. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves
  16. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/09_visiblelight
  17. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/07_infraredwaves
  18. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/05_radiowaves
  19. https://www.flickr.com/photos/geckzilla/15679524440/
  20. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/index.html
  21. http://www.astronomyknowhow.com/hydrogen-alpha.htm
  22. https://periodic.lanl.gov/1.shtml
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap161109.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130831.html
  25. http://ascl.net/
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200316.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  35. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=200317
  36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200318.html
  37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  38. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  39. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  40. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  41. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  42. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  43. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/
  45. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  46. http://www.mtu.edu/