¿ 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. 2021 February 24 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Spiral Galaxy M66 from Hubble Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]Hubble, [6]Janice Lee; Processing & Copyright: [7]Leo Shatz; Text: [8]Karen Masters Explanation: It's always nice to get a new view of an old friend. This stunning [9]Hubble Space Telescope image of nearby [10]spiral galaxy M66 is just that. A spiral galaxy with a small central bar, M66 is a member of the [11]Leo Galaxy Triplet, a group of three galaxies about 30 million light years from us. The Leo Triplet is a [12]popular target for relatively small telescopes, in part because [13]M66 and its galactic companions [14]M65 and [15]NGC 3628 all appear separated by about the [16]angular width of a [17]full moon. The [18]featured image of [19]M66 was taken by Hubble to help [20]investigate the connection between [21]star formation and [22]molecular gas clouds. Clearly visible are [23]bright blue stars, [24]pink ionized hydrogen clouds -- sprinkled all along the outer spiral arms, and dark [25]dust lanes in which more [26]star formation could be [27]hiding. Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [28]< | [29]Archive | [30]Submissions | [31]Index | [32]Search | [33]Calendar | [34]RSS | [35]Education | [36]About APOD | [37]Discuss | [38]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [39]Robert Nemiroff ([40]MTU) & [41]Jerry Bonnell ([42]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [43]Specific rights apply. [44]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [45]ASD at [46]NASA / [47]GSFC & [48]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2102/M66_HubbleShatz_2066.jpg 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. https://www.esa.int/ 5. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/main/index.html 6. https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceleeastro/ 7. https://www.astrobin.com/users/spinlock/ 8. https://www.haverford.edu/users/klmasters 9. https://hubblesite.org/ 10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_66 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190418.html 12. https://www.messier-objects.com/leo-triplet/ 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101113.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070601.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200604.html 16. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/a/Angular+Diameter 17. https://slate.com/technology/2014/01/moon-and-andromeda-relative-size-in-the-sky.html 18. https://www.astrobin.com/qzaary/B/ 19. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/messier-66 20. https://www.stsci.edu/hst/phase2-public/15654.pdf 21. http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/NatSci102/NatSci102/lectures/starform.htm 22. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/m/Molecular+Cloud 23. https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/star-colours/ 24. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-alpha 25. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_lane 26. https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve 27. https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/find-hidden-cat-camouflage-hide-and-seek-catouflage-71-58358fc2011da__605.jpg 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210223.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 32. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 37. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=210224 38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210225.html 39. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 40. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 41. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 42. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 43. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 44. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 45. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 46. https://www.nasa.gov/ 47. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 48. http://www.mtu.edu/