Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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. 2024 December 26 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Grand Spiral NGC 5643 Image Credit: [3]ESA / [4]Hubble & [5]NASA Explanation: Viewed face-on, grand spiral galaxy NGC 5643 has a [6]festive appearance in this [7]colorful cosmic portrait. Some 55 million light-years distant, the galaxy extends for over 100,000 light-years, seen within the boundaries of the southern constellation Lupus. Its [8]inner 40,000 light-years are shown in sharp detail in this composite of Hubble Space Telescope image data. The galaxy's magnificent spiral arms wind from a yellowish central region dominated by light from old stars, while the spiral arms themselves are traced by dust lanes, young blue stars and [9]reddish star forming regions. The bright compact core of NGC 5643 is also known as a strong emitter of [10]radio waves and [11]X-rays. In fact, NGC 5643 is one of the closest examples of the [12]Seyfert class of active galaxies, where vast amounts of dust and gas are thought to be falling into a central massive [13]black hole. Tomorrow's picture: planet Earth at twilight __________________________________________________________________ [14]< | [15]Archive | [16]Submissions | [17]Index | [18]Search | [19]Calendar | [20]RSS | [21]Education | [22]About APOD | [23]Discuss | [24]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [25]Robert Nemiroff ([26]MTU) & [27]Jerry Bonnell ([28]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [29]Specific rights apply. [30]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [31]ASD at [32]NASA / [33]GSFC, [34]NASA Science Activation & [35]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2412/Hubble_NGC5643_potw2450a.jpg 3. https://www.esa.int/ 4. https://www.spacetelescope.org/ 5. https://www.nasa.gov/ 6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYMTXZ1a2NU&t=10s 7. https://esahubble.org/images/potw2450a/ 8. https://esahubble.org/videos/potw2450a/ 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap050930.html 10. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/05_radiowaves 11. http://chandra.harvard.edu/learn_light.html 12. http://www.seyfertgalaxies.com/ 13. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/black-holes/en/ 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241225.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 23. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=241226 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241227.html 25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 28. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 30. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 31. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 32. https://www.nasa.gov/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 34. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 35. http://www.mtu.edu/