                        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 December 2
    A big beautiful sprawling spiral galaxy is shown. The galaxy has well
    defined spiral arms with bright blue star clusters and dark red dust.
      The center is a bright white. Please see the explanation for more
                            detailed information.

                  M77: Spiral Galaxy with an Active Center
            Image Credit: Hubble, NASA, ESA, L. C. Ho, D. Thilker

   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's 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. The image shows details of the spiral's winding spiral
   arms as traced by obscuring red dust clouds and blue star clusters, all
   circling the galaxy's bright white luminous center.

        Free APOD Lecture in Phoenix: Wednesday, December 10 at 7 pm
                     Tomorrow's picture: black hole trip
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

