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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.   
      
                                 2024 February 22   
      
                                A View Toward M106   
                      Image Credit & Copyright: Kyunghoon Lim   
      
      Explanation: Big, bright, beautiful spiral, Messier 106 dominates this   
      cosmic vista. The nearly two degree wide telescopic field of view looks   
      toward the well-trained constellation Canes Venatici, near the handle   
      of the Big Dipper. Also known as NGC 4258, M106 is about 80,000   
      light-years across and 23.5 million light-years away, the largest   
      member of the Canes II galaxy group. For a far far away galaxy, the   
      distance to M106 is well-known in part because it can be directly   
      measured by tracking this galaxy's remarkable maser, or microwave laser   
      emission. Very rare but naturally occurring, the maser emission is   
      produced by water molecules in molecular clouds orbiting its active   
      galactic nucleus. Another prominent spiral galaxy on the scene, viewed   
      nearly edge-on, is NGC 4217 below and right of M106. The distance to   
      NGC 4217 is much less well-known, estimated to be about 60 million   
      light-years, but the bright spiky stars are in the foreground, well   
      inside our own Milky Way galaxy.   
      
                        Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          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.   
      
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