                        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.

                               2021 January 24

                    Massive Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 2841
      Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, Subaru; Composition & Copyright:
                              Roberto Colombari

   Explanation: It is one of the more massive galaxies known. A mere 46
   million light-years distant, spiral galaxy NGC 2841 can be found in the
   northern constellation of Ursa Major. This sharp view of the gorgeous
   island universe shows off a striking yellow nucleus and galactic disk.
   Dust lanes, small, pink star-forming regions, and young blue star
   clusters are embedded in the patchy, tightly wound spiral arms. In
   contrast, many other spirals exhibit grand, sweeping arms with large
   star-forming regions. NGC 2841 has a diameter of over 150,000
   light-years, even larger than our own Milky Way. The featured composite
   image merges exposures from the orbiting 2.4-meter Hubble Space
   Telescope and the ground-based 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope. X-ray images
   suggest that resulting winds and stellar explosions create plumes of
   hot gas extending into a halo around NGC 2841.

                     Tomorrow's picture: volcanic cross
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

