Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

M106: A Spiral Galaxy with a Strange Center

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 9, 2024 is “M106: A Spiral Galaxy with a Strange Center,” an image. The picture is copyrighted by its creator (Image Credit & Copyright: Ali Al Obaidly). The original explanation runs about 144 words.

A spiral galaxy with blue spiral arms and a bright center is shown. The galaxy is surrounded by foreground stars and two smaller galaxies. In the galaxy's center are dark brown dust and red emission filaments. Please see the explanation for
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Ali Al Obaidly Copyrighted Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“What’s happening at the center of spiral galaxy M106? A swirling disk of stars and gas, M106 ‘s appearance is dominated by blue spiral arms and red dust lanes near the nucleus, as shown in the featured image taken from the Kuwait i desert .”

— APOD editors, October 9, 2024

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
October 9, 2024
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit & Copyright: Ali Al Obaidly
Copyright
Copyrighted by the credited creator. Ask the copyright holder before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 144 words

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Topics in this entry

Galaxies

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: October 9 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.