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.

                               2020 February 7

                              NGC 7331 Close Up
     Image Credit & License: ESA/Hubble & NASA/D. Milisavljevic (Purdue
                                 University)

   Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 7331 is often touted as
   an analog to our own Milky Way. About 50 million light-years distant in
   the northern constellation Pegasus, NGC 7331 was recognized early on as
   a spiral nebula and is actually one of the brighter galaxies not
   included in Charles Messier's famous 18th century catalog. Since the
   galaxy's disk is inclined to our line-of-sight, long telescopic
   exposures often result in an image that evokes a strong sense of depth.
   In this Hubble Space Telescope close-up, the galaxy's magnificent
   spiral arms feature dark obscuring dust lanes, bright bluish clusters
   of massive young stars, and the telltale reddish glow of active star
   forming regions. The bright yellowish central regions harbor
   populations of older, cooler stars. Like the Milky Way, a supermassive
   black hole lies at the core of spiral galaxy NGC 7331.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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