                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

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                               2021 October 15

                     NGC 289: Swirl in the Southern Sky
                    Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Selby

   Explanation: About 70 million light-years distant, gorgeous spiral
   galaxy NGC 289 is larger than our own Milky Way. Seen nearly face-on,
   its bright core and colorful central disk give way to remarkably faint,
   bluish spiral arms. The extensive arms sweep well over 100 thousand
   light-years from the galaxy's center. At the lower right in this sharp,
   telescopic galaxy portrait the main spiral arm seems to encounter a
   small, fuzzy elliptical companion galaxy interacting with enormous NGC
   289. Of course spiky stars are in the foreground of the scene. They lie
   within the Milky Way toward the southern constellation Sculptor.

                     Tomorrow's picture: Pixel in Space
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