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.

                                2026 March 16
    [2]A spiral galaxy fills the frame with a white center in the middle.
     Two bright arms spiral out from the center filled with red nebulas
   along their spines and surrounded by bright blue star clusters. Please
             see the explanation for more detailed information.

                     NGC 1566: The Spanish Dancer Galaxy
    Image Credit: [3]ESA/Hubble & [4]NASA, [5]D. Calzetti & the [6]LEGUS
                           [7]Team, [8]R. Chandar

   Explanation: If not perfect, then this [9]spiral galaxy is at least one
   of the most photogenic. An [10]island universe containing billions of
   stars and situated about 40 million light-years away toward the
   constellation of the Dolphinfish ([11]Dorado), [12]NGC 1566 presents a
   gorgeous [13]face-on view. Classified as a [14]grand design spiral, NGC
   1566 shows two prominent and graceful spiral arms that are traced by
   bright [15]blue star clusters, [16]red emission nebulas, and dark
   [17]cosmic dust lanes. Numerous [18]Hubble Space Telescope images of
   [19]NGC 1566 have been taken to study [20]star formation,
   [21]supernovas, and the spiral's [22]unusually active center. [23]NGC
   1566's flaring center makes the spiral one of the closest and brightest
   [24]Seyfert galaxies, likely housing a central [25]supermassive black
   hole wreaking havoc on [26]surrounding stars and gas.

      Sky Surprise: [27]What picture did APOD feature on your birthday?
                                (after 1995)
                       Tomorrow's picture: open space
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    Authors & editors: [39]Robert Nemiroff ([40]MTU) & [41]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([42]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [43]Specific rights apply.
            [44]NASA Web Privacy, [45]Accessibility, [46]Notices;
                A service of: [47]ASD at [48]NASA / [49]GSFC,
                         [50]NASA Science Activation
                           & [51]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2603/SpanishDancer_Hubble_3716.jpg
   3. https://esahubble.org/
   4. https://www.nasa.gov/
   5. https://www.umass.edu/astronomy/about/directory/daniela-calzetti
   6. https://legus.stsci.edu/legus_survey.html
   7. https://legus.stsci.edu/team.html
   8. https://www.utoledo.edu/nsm/physast/people/rupali-chandar.html
   9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_galaxy
  10. http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/March02/Gordon/Gordon2.html
  11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorado
  12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_1566
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap010427.html
  14. http://burro.cwru.edu/Academics/Astr222/Galaxies/Spiral/spiral.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200909.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250917.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap151119.html
  18. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/
  19. https://esahubble.org/images/potw2344a/
  20. https://science.nasa.gov/universe/stars/
  21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8en5uDqw0aM
  22. https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1184409133/photo/happy-dog-making-mess-with-papers-on-bed.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=HIvJz4ifaBEf3DWHBip9y7tWjdajJHbEnu3hBWlkYis=
  23. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019MNRAS.483L..88P/abstract
  24. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seyfert_galaxy
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181203.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190427.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260315.html
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  32. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  34. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  35. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  37. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260316
  38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260317.html
  39. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  40. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  41. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  42. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  43. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  45. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  46. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  47. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  48. https://www.nasa.gov/
  49. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  50. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  51. http://www.mtu.edu/