                        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 April 26

                        Regulus and the Dwarf Galaxy
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Markus Horn

   Explanation: 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 telescopic field of
   view. A mere 79 light-years distant, Regulus is a 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 dwarf spheroidal galaxy, a member
   of the Local Group of galaxies dominated by our Milky Way Galaxy and
   the Andromeda Galaxy (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. But dwarf galaxy Leo I has shown 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
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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