                        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 24
     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: NASA, ESA, Hubble, ESO; Processing & Copyright: Robert
                                   Gendler

   Explanation: Is there a spiral galaxy in the center of this spiral
   galaxy? Sort of. Image data from the Hubble Space Telescope, the
   European Southern Observatory, and smaller telescopes on planet Earth
   are combined in this detailed portrait of face-on spiral galaxy Messier
   61 (M61) and its bright center. A mere 55 million light-years away in
   the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies, M61 is also known as NGC 4303. It's
   considered to be an example of a barred spiral galaxy similar to our
   own 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 supermassive black hole
   surrounded by a bright nuclear spiral -- infalling star-forming gas
   that itself looks like a separate spiral galaxy.

   APOD Turns 30!: Free public lecture in Cork, Ireland TONIGHT (Tuesday)
                                   at 7 pm
                Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space and time
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

