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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 August 18   
      A large spiral galaxy appears with stars in the foreground and smaller   
       galaxies far in the background. The picturesque spiral has dark dust   
       lanes between blue arms. Please see the explanation for more detailed   
                                   information.   
      
                         NGC 1309: A Useful Spiral Galaxy   
        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 the banks   
      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 and dust 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 the calibration of the   
      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.   
      
                          Tomorrow's picture: open space   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.   
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                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
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