MSGID: 1:153/757.0 d9a6dc30   
   TZUTC: -0800   
   CHARSET: LATIN-1   
                           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.   
      
                                 2022 February 21   
      
                           Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 6217   
               Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team   
      
      Explanation: Many spiral galaxies have bars across their centers. Even   
      our own Milky Way Galaxy is thought to have a modest central bar.   
      Prominently barred spiral galaxy NGC 6217, featured here, was captured   
      in spectacular detail in this image taken by the Advanced Camera for   
      Surveys on the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope in 2009. Visible are   
      dark filamentary dust lanes, young clusters of bright blue stars, red   
      emission nebulas of glowing hydrogen gas, a long bar of stars across   
      the center, and a bright active nucleus that likely houses a   
      supermassive black hole. Light takes about 60 million years to reach us   
      from NGC 6217, which spans about 30,000 light years across and can be   
      found toward the constellation of the Little Bear (Ursa Minor).   
      
                      Tomorrow's picture: quasar illustrated   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.   
                   NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices   
                         A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
   --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5   
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)   
   SEEN-BY: 1/123 15/0 90/1 103/705 105/81 106/201 120/340 123/131 129/305   
   SEEN-BY: 129/330 331 134/100 153/105 135 757 6809 7715 218/700 840   
   SEEN-BY: 221/1 6 226/30 227/114 229/110 206 317 400 424 426 428 664   
   SEEN-BY: 229/700 240/1120 5832 266/512 282/1038 301/1 113 812 317/3   
   SEEN-BY: 320/219 322/757 335/364 341/66 342/200 396/45 460/58 633/280   
   SEEN-BY: 712/848 920/1 4500/1 5020/1042 5058/104   
   PATH: 153/757 221/6 301/1 229/426