﻿ 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. 2023 April 8 [2]A spiral galaxy is shown with spiral arms dominated by blue stars and with a bright central swirl that itself looks like a spiral galaxy. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. M100: A Grand Design Spiral Galaxy Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]Hubble; Processing: [6]Judy Schmidt Explanation: Majestic on a truly cosmic scale, M100 is appropriately known as a [7]grand design spiral galaxy. It is a large galaxy of over 100 billion stars with well-defined spiral arms that is similar to our own [8]Milky Way Galaxy. One of the brightest members of the [9]Virgo Cluster of galaxies, [10]M100 (alias NGC 4321) is 56 million [11]light-years distant toward the constellation of Berenice's Hair ([12]Coma Berenices). [13]This Hubble [14]Space Telescope image of M100 was taken with the [15]Wide Field Camera 3 and accentuates bright blue [16]star clusters and intricate winding [17]dust lanes which are hallmarks of this class of galaxies. [18]Studies of variable stars in [19]M100 have played an important role in determining the [20]size and age of the Universe. Tomorrow's picture: big egg __________________________________________________________________ [21]< | [22]Archive | [23]Submissions | [24]Index | [25]Search | [26]Calendar | [27]RSS | [28]Education | [29]About APOD | [30]Discuss | [31]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [32]Robert Nemiroff ([33]MTU) & [34]Jerry Bonnell ([35]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [36]Specific rights apply. [37]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [38]ASD at [39]NASA / [40]GSFC, [41]NASA Science Activation & [42]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2304/M100_HubbleWfc3_3679.jpg 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. https://www.esa.int/ 5. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/index.html 6. https://www.flickr.com/photos/geckzilla/ 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_design_spiral_galaxy 8. https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/milkyway1.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110422.html 10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_100 11. https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/light-year/ 12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coma_Berenices 13. https://esahubble.org/images/potw1850a/ 14. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/story/index.html 15. https://www.spacetelescope.org/about/general/instruments/wfc3/ 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/open_clusters.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140726.html 18. https://external-preview.redd.it/8lNLY_NUtEIhb7yFEkZRRM8f4dZAHtpCMA0WcYnBrx4.gif?format=png8&s=b2c51a3ed02455e471f6d48dd5e3be009a815ff4 19. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/messier-100 20. http://apod.nasa.gov/debate/debate96.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230407.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 30. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230408 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230409.html 32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 34. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 35. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 37. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 38. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 39. https://www.nasa.gov/ 40. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 41. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 42. http://www.mtu.edu/