﻿ 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 August 29 [2]Spiral galaxy M66 is shown in infrared light as seen by the orbiting James Webb Space Telescope. A reddish-brown center is seen in the galaxy with a blue-colored spiral arms surrounding it. A close inspection will reveal that these spiral arms are not symmetrical. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Unusual Spiral Galaxy M66 from Webb Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]CSA, [6]JWST; Processing: [7]Brian Tomlinson Explanation: Why isn't spiral galaxy [8]M66 symmetric? Usually, [9]density waves of gas, dust, and newly formed stars circle a [10]spiral galaxy's center and create a [11]nearly symmetric galaxy. The differences between M66's spiral arms and the apparent displacement of its [12]nucleus are all likely caused by previous close interactions and the [13]tidal gravitational pulls of nearby galaxy neighbors [14]M65 and NGC 3628. The galaxy, [15]featured here in [16]infrared light taken by the [17]James Webb Space Telescope, spans about 100,000 [18]light years, lies about 35 million [19]light years distant, and is the largest galaxy in a group known as the [20]Leo Triplet. Like many spiral galaxies, the long and intricate [21]dust lanes of [22]M66 are seen intertwined with the [23]bright stars and [24]intergalactic dust that follow the spiral arms. Tomorrow's picture: open space __________________________________________________________________ [25]< | [26]Archive | [27]Submissions | [28]Index | [29]Search | [30]Calendar | [31]RSS | [32]Education | [33]About APOD | [34]Discuss | [35]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [36]Robert Nemiroff ([37]MTU) & [38]Jerry Bonnell ([39]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [40]Specific rights apply. [41]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [42]ASD at [43]NASA / [44]GSFC, [45]NASA Science Activation & [46]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2308/M66_JwstTomlinson_3521.jpg 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. https://www.esa.int/ 5. https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/ 6. https://webb.nasa.gov/ 7. https://www.instagram.com/bt_photo/ 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_66 9. https://youtu.be/c5Us-jonCLA 10. http://www.seds.org/messier/spir.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210312.html 12. https://www.glyphweb.com/esky/concepts/galacticnucleus.html 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_force 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210320.html 15. https://www.flickr.com/photos/brian_tomlinson/52631087860/in/pool-apods/ 16. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/07_infraredwaves 17. https://webb.nasa.gov/content/about/index.html 18. https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/cosmic_distance.html 19. https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question19.html 20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Triplet 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html 22. https://esahubble.org/videos/heic1006a/ 23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_brightest_stars 24. https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/d/Dust+Grain 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230828.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 29. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 34. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230829 35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230830.html 36. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 37. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 38. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 39. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 40. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 41. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 42. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 43. https://www.nasa.gov/ 44. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 45. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 46. http://www.mtu.edu/