MSGID: 1:153/757.0 9b065779
TZUTC: -0700
CHRS: LATIN-1 2
                        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.

                                2023 July 12
    A spiral galaxy is shown with a yellow center, blue rings and spiral
   arms, and dark brown and red dust. The surrounding dark field contains
   both local stars and more distant galaxies. Please see the explanation
                       for more detailed information.

                   Rings and Bar of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1398
                 Image Credit: Mark Hanson; Data: Mike Selby

   Explanation: Why do some spiral galaxies have a ring around the center?
   Spiral galaxy NGC 1398 not only has a ring of pearly stars, gas and
   dust around its center, but a bar of stars and gas across its center,
   and spiral arms that appear like ribbons farther out. The featured deep
   image from Observatorio El Sauce in Chile shows the grand spiral galaxy
   in impressive detail. NGC 1398 lies about 65 million light years
   distant, meaning the light we see today left this galaxy when dinosaurs
   were disappearing from the Earth. The photogenic galaxy is visible with
   a small telescope toward the constellation of the Furnace (Fornax). The
   ring near the center is likely an expanding density wave of star
   formation, caused either by a gravitational encounter with another
   galaxy, or by the galaxy's own gravitational asymmetries.

                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
     __________________________________________________________________

       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,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
 * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
SEEN-BY: 1/123 15/0 90/1 105/81 106/201 123/131 129/305 134/100 153/135
SEEN-BY: 153/143 757 802 6809 7715 218/700 840 221/1 6 226/30 227/114
SEEN-BY: 229/110 112 113 206 307 317 400 426 428 470 664 700 240/1120
SEEN-BY: 266/512 282/1038 291/111 301/1 113 812 317/3 320/219 322/757
SEEN-BY: 335/364 341/66 342/200 396/45 460/58 256 1124 633/280 712/848
SEEN-BY: 5020/400 1042 5054/30 5075/35
PATH: 153/757 221/6 301/1 460/58 229/426