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.

                                2025 June 24
   [2]A sprawling spiral galaxy is shown in great detail. This galaxy has
    blue spiral arms and a bright center that itself seems to look like a
         spiral galaxy. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                     In the Center of Spiral Galaxy M61
       Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]Hubble, [6]ESO; Processing &
                        Copyright: [7]Robert Gendler

   Explanation: Is there a [8]spiral galaxy in the center of this spiral
   galaxy? Sort of. [9]Image data from the [10]Hubble Space Telescope, the
   [11]European Southern Observatory, and smaller telescopes on [12]planet
   Earth are combined in [13]this detailed portrait of face-on spiral
   galaxy [14]Messier 61 (M61) and its bright center. A mere 55 million
   light-years away in the [15]Virgo Cluster of Galaxies, M61 is also
   known as NGC 4303. It's considered to be an example of a [16]barred
   spiral galaxy similar to our own [17]Milky Way. Like other spiral
   galaxies, M61 also features sweeping spiral arms, cosmic dust lanes,
   pinkish star forming regions, and young blue star clusters. Its core
   houses an active [18]supermassive black hole surrounded by a bright
   [19]nuclear spiral -- infalling star-forming gas that [20]itself looks
   like a separate spiral galaxy.

      APOD Turns 30!: [21]Free public lecture in Cork, Ireland TONIGHT
                              (Tuesday) at 7 pm
                Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space and time
     __________________________________________________________________

      [22]< | [23]Archive | [24]Submissions | [25]Index | [26]Search |
   [27]Calendar | [28]RSS | [29]Education | [30]About APOD | [31]Discuss |
                                    [32]>
     __________________________________________________________________

    Authors & editors: [33]Robert Nemiroff ([34]MTU) & [35]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([36]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [37]Specific rights apply.
            [38]NASA Web Privacy, [39]Accessibility, [40]Notices;
                A service of: [41]ASD at [42]NASA / [43]GSFC,
                         [44]NASA Science Activation
                           & [45]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2506/M61_HubbleEsoGendler_2753.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://www.esa.int/
   5. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/overview/about-hubble/
   6. https://www.eso.org/public/about-eso/
   7. http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/Biography2.html
   8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_galaxy
   9. https://esahubble.org/images/potw1324a/
  10. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/hubble/
  11. https://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220206.html
  13. http://www.robgendlerastropics.com/M61-HST-ESO-New.html
  14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_61
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250417.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221016.html
  17. https://science.nasa.gov/resource/the-milky-way-galaxy/
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100529.html
  19. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2000ApJ...528..677E/abstract
  20. https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https://external-preview.redd.it/q8EUhIDfyVNyKn9ZMWx16fUV35w5G7N4cjXcSpePJXY.jpg?width=320&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=43247d01e96d9b6a471835d51173749e4dd5cb3c
  21. https://corkastronomyclub.com/astronomy-picture-of-the-day-lecture/
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250623.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  28. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  31. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250624
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250625.html
  33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  36. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  39. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  41. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  42. https://www.nasa.gov/
  43. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  44. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  45. http://www.mtu.edu/