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 August 18
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble;Processing: L. Galbany, S. Jha, K. Noll, A. Riess
Explanation: This galaxy is not only pretty -- it's useful. A gorgeous spiral some 100 million light-years distant,NGC 1309 lies on thebanks of the constellation of the River(Eridanus).NGC 1309 spans about 30,000 light-years, making it about one third the size of our larger Milky Way galaxy.Bluish clusters of young stars anddust lanes are seen to trace out NGC 1309's spiral arms as they wind around an older yellowish star population at its core.Not just another pretty face-on spiral galaxy, observations of NGC 1309's two recent supernovas and multiple Cepheid variable stars contribute to thecalibration ofthe expansion of the Universe.Still, after you get over this beautiful galaxy's grand design,check out the array of more distant background galaxies also recorded in this sharp image from the Hubble Space Telescope.
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