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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.

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

Spiral Galaxy NGC 300

Explanation: NGC 300 is so interesting because it is so normal. An Sc-type spiral galaxy in the nearby Sculptor group of galaxies , NGC 300 shows typical flowing blue spiral arms , an expected compact nucleus , and the requisite amount of stars , star clusters , and nebulae . Therefore, studying NGC 300 should indicate how, exactly, a normal spiral galaxy works. Toward this goal, NGC 300 and the surrounding area were studied in exquisite detail, creating and combining a series of high-resolution images to create the above conglomerate picture . NGC 300 lies only 7 million light years away, spans nearly the same amount of sky as the full moon , and is visible with a small telescope toward the constellation of Sculptor .

Date August 21, 2002
Credit Credit: M. Schirmer ( IAEF, Bonn ), W. Gieren ( Univ. de Concepcin, Chile ), et al., ESO
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.