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. 2022 February 26 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Nearby Spiral Galaxy NGC 4945 Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Dietmar Hager, [5]Eric Benson Explanation: Large spiral galaxy NGC 4945 is seen nearly [6]edge-on in this cosmic galaxy close-up. It's almost the size of our [7]Milky Way Galaxy. NGC 4945's own dusty disk, young blue star clusters, and pink star forming regions stand out in the colorful telescopic frame. About 13 million light-years distant toward the [8]expansive southern constellation [9]Centaurus, NGC 4945 is only about six times farther away than Andromeda, the nearest large spiral galaxy to the Milky Way. Though this galaxy's central region is largely hidden from view for optical telescopes, X-ray and infrared observations indicate [10]significant high energy emission and star formation in the core [11]of NGC 4945. Its obscured but active nucleus qualifies the gorgeous island universe as [12]a Seyfert galaxy and home to a central supermassive black hole. Tomorrow's picture: really famous picture -- remastered __________________________________________________________________ [13]< | [14]Archive | [15]Submissions | [16]Index | [17]Search | [18]Calendar | [19]RSS | [20]Education | [21]About APOD | [22]Discuss | [23]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell ([27]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [28]Specific rights apply. [29]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC & [33]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2202/NGC4945-Dietmar-Eric-crop.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.facebook.com/StargazerObservatory/ 5. http://www.faintgalaxy.com/ 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010510.html 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140724.html 8. http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/extra/Centaurus.html 9. http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/cen/index.html 10. http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0002244 11. http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0931/ 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010701.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220225.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 17. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 22. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220226 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220227.html 24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 27. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 29. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 30. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 31. https://www.nasa.gov/ 32. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 33. http://www.mtu.edu/