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 March 17

                  M77: Spiral Galaxy with an Active Center
     Image Credit: Hubble, NASA, ESA; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt

   Explanation: What's happening in the center of nearby spiral galaxy
   M77? The face-on galaxy lies a mere 47 million light-years away toward
   the constellation of the Sea Monster (Cetus). At that estimated
   distance, this gorgeous island universe is about 100 thousand
   light-years across. Also known as NGC 1068, its compact and very bright
   core is well studied by astronomers exploring the mysteries of
   supermassive black holes in active Seyfert galaxies. M77 and its active
   core glows bright at x-ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and radio
   wavelengths. The featured sharp image of M77 was taken by the Hubble
   Space Telescope and is dominated by the (visible) red light emitted by
   hydrogen. The image shows details of the spiral's winding spiral arms
   as traced by obscuring dust clouds, and red-tinted star forming regions
   close in to the galaxy's luminous core.

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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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