                        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.

                               2024 February 1

                     NGC 1365: Majestic Island Universe
     Image Credit & Copyright: Processing - Jean-Baptiste Auroux, Data -
                                 Mike Selby

   Explanation: Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is truly a majestic island
   universe some 200,000 light-years across. Located a mere 60 million
   light-years away toward the faint but heated constellation Fornax, NGC
   1365 is a dominant member of the well-studied Fornax Cluster of
   galaxies
   . This sharp color image shows the intense, reddish star forming
   regions near the ends of the galaxy's central bar and along its spiral
   arms. Seen in fine detail, obscuring dust lanes cut across the galaxy's
   bright core. At the core lies a supermassive black hole. Astronomers
   think NGC 1365's prominent bar plays a crucial role in the galaxy's
   evolution, drawing gas and dust into a star-forming maelstrom and
   ultimately feeding material into the central black hole.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

