                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    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 19

                        NGC 3521: Galaxy in a Bubble
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Vikas Chander

   Explanation: Gorgeous spiral galaxy NGC 3521 is a mere 35 million
   light-years away, toward the northern springtime constellation Leo.
   Relatively bright in planet Earth's sky, NGC 3521 is easily visible in
   small telescopes but often overlooked by amateur imagers in favor of
   other Leo spiral galaxies, like M66 and M65. It's hard to overlook in
   this colorful cosmic portrait though. Spanning some 50,000 light-years
   the galaxy sports characteristic patchy, irregular spiral arms laced
   with dust, pink star forming regions, and clusters of young, blue
   stars. The deep image also finds NGC 3521 embedded in fainter,
   gigantic, bubble-like shells. The shells are likely tidal debris,
   streams of stars torn from satellite galaxies that have undergone
   mergers with NGC 3521 in the distant past.

                        Tomorrow's picture: lunistice
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