Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Rings and Bar of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1398

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for July 12, 2023 is “Rings and Bar of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1398,” an image. It is credited to Image Credit: Mark Hanson ; Data: Mike Selby. The original explanation runs about 142 words.

A spiral galaxy is shown with a yellow center, blue rings and spiral arms, and dark brown and red dust. The surrounding dark field contains both local stars and more distant galaxies. Please see the explanation for more detailed information
Credit: Image Credit: Mark Hanson ; Data: Mike Selby Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Why do some spiral galaxies have a ring around the center? Spiral galaxy NGC 1398 not only has a ring of pearly stars, gas and dust around its center, but a bar of stars and gas across its center, and spiral arms that appear like ribbons farther out.”

— APOD editors, July 12, 2023

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
July 12, 2023
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit: Mark Hanson ; Data: Mike Selby
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 142 words

All of July 2023 → · 2023 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Galaxies

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: July 12 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.