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.

                                2025 March 11
     [2]A spiral galaxy is shown in great detail. Visible are blue star
    clusters, red nebulas, and brown dust in a spiral pattern around the
    image and galaxy center. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                 NGC 1672: Barred Spiral Galaxy from Hubble
    Image Credit: [3]ESA/Hubble & [4]NASA, [5]O. Fox, L. Jenkins, S. Van
     Dyk, A. Filippenko, J. Lee and the [6]PHANGS-HST Team, D. de Martin
                    (ESA/Hubble), M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble)

   Explanation: Many spiral galaxies have bars across their centers. Even
   our own [7]Milky Way Galaxy is thought to have a [8]modest central bar.
   Prominently barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672, [9]featured here, was
   captured in spectacular detail in an image taken by the orbiting
   [10]Hubble Space Telescope. Visible are dark filamentary [11]dust
   lanes, young [12]clusters of bright blue stars, red [13]emission
   nebulas of glowing hydrogen gas, a long bright bar of [14]stars across
   the center, and a bright [15]active nucleus that likely houses a
   supermassive [16]black hole. Light takes about 60 million years to
   reach us from [17]NGC 1672, which spans about 75,000 [18]light years
   across. [19]NGC 1672, which appears toward the constellation of the
   Dolphinfish ([20]Dorado), has [21]been studied to find out how a spiral
   bar contributes to star formation in a galaxy's central regions.

                   Tomorrow's picture: comet versus galaxy
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    Authors & editors: [33]Robert Nemiroff ([34]MTU) & [35]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([36]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [37]Specific rights apply.
            [38]NASA Web Privacy, [39]Accessibility, [40]Notices;
                A service of: [41]ASD at [42]NASA / [43]GSFC,
                         [44]NASA Science Activation
                           & [45]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2503/NGC1672B_Hubble_4000.jpg
   3. https://esahubble.org/
   4. https://www.nasa.gov/
   5. https://www.stsci.edu/stsci-research/research-directory/ori-fox
   6. https://phangs.stsci.edu/
   7. https://science.nasa.gov/resource/the-milky-way-galaxy/
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050825.html
   9. https://esahubble.org/images/potw2445a/
  10. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/overview/about-hubble/
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060219.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/open_clusters.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/emission_nebulae.html
  14. https://science.nasa.gov/universe/stars/
  15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_galactic_nucleus
  16. http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/rjn_bht.html
  17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_1672
  18. https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html
  19. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGuct0CGHiA
  20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorado
  21. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011ApJ...734...33J/abstract
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250310.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  28. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  31. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250311
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250312.html
  33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  36. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  39. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  41. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  42. https://www.nasa.gov/
  43. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  44. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  45. http://www.mtu.edu/