Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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. 2021 January 8 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. NGC 1365: Majestic Island Universe Image Credit & [3]Copyright: Mike Selby, Leonardo Orazi Explanation: Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is truly a majestic [4]island universe some 200,000 light-years across. Located a mere 60 million light-years away toward the chemical constellation [5]Fornax, NGC 1365 is a [6]dominant member of the well-studied [7]Fornax Cluster of galaxies. This impressively [8]sharp color image shows the intense, reddish star forming regions near the ends of central bar and along the spiral arms, with details of the obscuring dust lanes cutting across the galaxy's bright core. At the core lies a supermassive black hole. Astronomers think [9]NGC 1365's prominent bar plays a crucial role in the [10]galaxy's evolution, drawing gas and dust into a star-forming maelstrom and ultimately feeding material into the [11]central black hole. Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend __________________________________________________________________ [12]< | [13]Archive | [14]Submissions | [15]Index | [16]Search | [17]Calendar | [18]RSS | [19]Education | [20]About APOD | [21]Discuss | [22]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [23]Robert Nemiroff ([24]MTU) & [25]Jerry Bonnell ([26]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [27]Specific rights apply. [28]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [29]ASD at [30]NASA / [31]GSFC & [32]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2101/NGC-1365-RGB-19-DEC-2020_Leo_Mike.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100109.html 5. http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/for/index.html 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160611.html 7. http://heritage.stsci.edu/2005/09/supplemental.html 8. http://www.starkeeper.it/NGC1365.htm 9. http://arxiv.org/abs/0907.2602 10. http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1999/34/ 11. http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2000/22 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210107.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 16. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 21. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=210108 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210109.html 23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 26. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 28. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 29. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 30. https://www.nasa.gov/ 31. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 32. http://www.mtu.edu/