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 April 26
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                        Regulus and the Dwarf Galaxy
                 Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Markus Horn

   Explanation: [5]In northern hemisphere spring, bright star Regulus is
   easy to spot above the eastern horizon. The alpha star of the
   constellation Leo, Regulus is the spiky star centered in this
   [6]telescopic field of view. A mere 79 light-years distant, [7]Regulus
   is a [8]hot, rapidly spinning star that is known to be part of a
   multiple star system. Not quite lost in the glare, the fuzzy patch just
   below Regulus is diffuse starlight from small galaxy Leo I. Leo I is a
   [9]dwarf spheroidal galaxy, a member of the [10]Local Group of galaxies
   dominated by our [11]Milky Way Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy
   ([12]M31). About 800 thousand light-years away, Leo I is thought to be
   the most distant of the known small satellite galaxies orbiting the
   Milky Way. [13]But dwarf galaxy Leo I has shown [14]evidence of a
   supermassive black hole at its center, comparable in mass to the black
   hole at the center of the Milky Way.

                   Tomorrow's picture: all around eclipse
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    Authors & editors: [26]Robert Nemiroff ([27]MTU) & [28]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([29]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [30]Specific rights apply.
               [31]NASA Web Privacy, [32]Accessibility Notices
                A service of: [33]ASD at [34]NASA / [35]GSFC,
                         [36]NASA Science Activation
                           & [37]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2404/Regulus_Dwarf_by_Markus_Horn2048.png
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://astrophoto-hannover.de/index.html
   5. https://earthsky.org/favorite-star-patterns/spring-triangle-regulus-arcturus-spica/
   6. https://astrophoto-hannover.de/regulus.html
   7. http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/regulus.html
   8. https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/best-regulus-the-heart-of-the-lion/
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_I_(dwarf_galaxy)
  10. http://www.seds.org/messier/more/local.html
  11. https://science.nasa.gov/resource/the-milky-way-galaxy/
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap051222.html
  13. https://www.sci.news/astronomy/dwarf-spheroidal-galaxy-leo-i-black-hole-10328.html
  14. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023ApJ...956L..37P/abstract
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240425.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  19. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  24. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240426
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240427.html
  26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  29. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  33. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  34. https://www.nasa.gov/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  36. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  37. http://www.mtu.edu/