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 12
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                           Spiral Galaxy NGC 1350
        Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Mike Selby, [5]Warren Keller

   Explanation: This gorgeous island universe lies about 85 million
   light-years distant in the southern [6]constellation Fornax. Inhabited
   by young blue star clusters, the tightly wound [7]spiral arms of NGC
   1350 seem to join in a circle around the galaxy's large, bright
   nucleus, giving it the appearance of a cosmic eye. In fact, NGC 1350 is
   about 130,000 light-years across. That makes it as large or slightly
   larger than the Milky Way. For [8]earth-based astronomers, NGC 1350 is
   seen on the outskirts of the [9]Fornax cluster of galaxies, but its
   estimated distance suggests that it is not itself a cluster member. Of
   course, the bright spiky stars in the foreground of this telescopic
   field of view are members of our own spiral [10]Milky Way galaxy.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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    Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & [24]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([25]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [26]Specific rights apply.
              [27]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [28]ASD at [29]NASA / [30]GSFC
                           & [31]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2102/NGC1350_crop.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.facebook.com/masterdarksastro/
   5. http://www.billionsandbillions.com/
   6. http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/for/index.html
   7. https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0532/
   8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_optical_reflecting_telescopes
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160611.html
  10. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/285/the-milky-way-galaxy/
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210211.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  15. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  20. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=210212
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210213.html
  22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  25. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  27. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  28. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  31. http://www.mtu.edu/