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                           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 June 24   
        A sprawling spiral galaxy is shown in great detail. This galaxy has   
       blue spiral arms and a bright center that itself seems to look like a   
            spiral galaxy. Please see the explanation for more detailed   
                                   information.   
      
                        In the Center of Spiral Galaxy M61   
       Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, ESO; Processing & Copyright: Robert   
                                      Gendler   
      
      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.   
      
      APOD Turns 30!: Free public lecture in Cork, Ireland TONIGHT (Tuesday)   
                                      at 7 pm   
                   Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space and time   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.   
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                         A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,   
                              NASA Science Activation   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
   --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-7   
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