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. 2024 April 26 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Regulus and the Dwarf Galaxy Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Markus Horn Explanation: [5]In northern hemisphere spring, bright star Regulus is easy to spot above the eastern horizon. The alpha star of the constellation Leo, Regulus is the spiky star centered in this [6]telescopic field of view. A mere 79 light-years distant, [7]Regulus is a [8]hot, rapidly spinning star that is known to be part of a multiple star system. Not quite lost in the glare, the fuzzy patch just below Regulus is diffuse starlight from small galaxy Leo I. Leo I is a [9]dwarf spheroidal galaxy, a member of the [10]Local Group of galaxies dominated by our [11]Milky Way Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy ([12]M31). About 800 thousand light-years away, Leo I is thought to be the most distant of the known small satellite galaxies orbiting the Milky Way. [13]But dwarf galaxy Leo I has shown [14]evidence of a supermassive black hole at its center, comparable in mass to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Tomorrow's picture: all around eclipse __________________________________________________________________ [15]< | [16]Archive | [17]Submissions | [18]Index | [19]Search | [20]Calendar | [21]RSS | [22]Education | [23]About APOD | [24]Discuss | [25]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [26]Robert Nemiroff ([27]MTU) & [28]Jerry Bonnell ([29]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [30]Specific rights apply. [31]NASA Web Privacy, [32]Accessibility Notices A service of: [33]ASD at [34]NASA / [35]GSFC, [36]NASA Science Activation & [37]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2404/Regulus_Dwarf_by_Markus_Horn2048.png 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://astrophoto-hannover.de/index.html 5. https://earthsky.org/favorite-star-patterns/spring-triangle-regulus-arcturus-spica/ 6. https://astrophoto-hannover.de/regulus.html 7. http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/regulus.html 8. https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/best-regulus-the-heart-of-the-lion/ 9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_I_(dwarf_galaxy) 10. http://www.seds.org/messier/more/local.html 11. https://science.nasa.gov/resource/the-milky-way-galaxy/ 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap051222.html 13. https://www.sci.news/astronomy/dwarf-spheroidal-galaxy-leo-i-black-hole-10328.html 14. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023ApJ...956L..37P/abstract 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240425.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 19. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 24. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240426 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240427.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 29. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 31. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 32. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 33. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 34. https://www.nasa.gov/ 35. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 36. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 37. http://www.mtu.edu/