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.

                              2024 February 22
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                             A View Toward M106
                Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Kyunghoon Lim

   Explanation: Big, bright, beautiful [5]spiral, Messier 106 dominates
   this cosmic vista. The nearly two degree wide [6]telescopic field of
   view looks toward the well-trained constellation Canes Venatici, near
   the handle of the Big Dipper. Also known as NGC 4258, M106 is about
   80,000 light-years across and 23.5 million light-years away, the
   largest member of the [7]Canes II galaxy group. For a far far away
   galaxy, the distance to M106 is well-known in part because it can be
   [8]directly measured by tracking this galaxy's remarkable maser, or
   microwave laser emission. Very rare but naturally occurring, the
   [9]maser emission is produced by water molecules in molecular clouds
   orbiting its [10]active galactic nucleus. Another prominent spiral
   galaxy on the scene, viewed nearly [11]edge-on, is NGC 4217 below and
   right of M106. The distance to NGC 4217 is much less well-known,
   estimated to be about 60 million light-years, but the bright [12]spiky
   stars are in the foreground, well inside our own Milky Way galaxy.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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    Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([27]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [28]Specific rights apply.
              [29]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC,
                         [33]NASA Science Activation
                           & [34]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2402/M106field_KyunghoonLim2048.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.astrobin.com/users/lkh0460/
   5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210409.html
   6. https://www.astrobin.com/bwc7h6/
   7. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/galgrps/cvnii.html
   8. http://arxiv.org/abs/1307.6031
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrophysical_maser
  10. https://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1302/
  11. https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1503a/
  12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction_spike
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240221.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  17. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  22. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240222
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240223.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  27. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  29. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  30. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  33. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  34. http://www.mtu.edu/