APOD: 2025 June 24 Б In the Center of Spiral Galaxy M61
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.
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Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
