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.

                              2022 December 28
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                                 Messier 88
    Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Adam Block, [5]Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter,
                                [6]U. Arizona

   Explanation: [7]Charles Messier described the 88th entry in his 18th
   century catalog of [8]Nebulae and Star Clusters as a spiral nebula
   without stars. Of course the [9]gorgeous M88 is now [10]understood to
   be a galaxy full of stars, gas, and dust, not unlike our own Milky Way.
   In fact, M88 is one of the brightest galaxies in the [11]Virgo Galaxy
   Cluster some 50 million light-years [12]away. M88's beautiful spiral
   arms are easy to trace in this [13]sharp cosmic portait. The arms are
   lined with young blue [14]star clusters, pink [15]star-forming regions,
   and obscuring [16]dust lanes extending from a yellowish core dominated
   by an older population of stars. Spiral galaxy M88 spans over 100,000
   light-years.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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    Authors & editors: [28]Robert Nemiroff ([29]MTU) & [30]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([31]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [32]Specific rights apply.
              [33]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [34]ASD at [35]NASA / [36]GSFC,
                         [37]NASA Science Activation
                           & [38]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2212/M88_2022weebly.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. http://www.caelumobservatory.com/index.html
   5. http://skycenter.arizona.edu/
   6. http://www.as.arizona.edu/
   7. https://www.nasa.gov/content/explore-the-night-sky-hubble-s-messier-catalog-bio
   8. https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahubble/sets/72157687169041265
   9. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/messier-88
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200430.html
  11. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/galgrps/vir.html
  12. http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/nDistance?name=MESSIER+088
  13. https://www.adamblockphotos.com/m88.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap990402.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080928.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090615.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221227.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  21. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  26. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=221228
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221227.html
  28. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  29. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  30. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  31. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  34. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  37. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  38. http://www.mtu.edu/