APOD: 2003 April 17 - M106 in Canes Venatici (original) (raw)

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.

2003 April 17

M106 in Canes Venatici
Credit: Bernie and Jay Slotnick,Adam Block,AOP, NOAO,AURA, NSF

Explanation: Close to the Great Bear (Ursa Major) andsurrounded by the starsof the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici), this celestial nebula wasdiscoveredin 1781 by themetricFrench astronomerPierre Mechainand later added to the catalog of his friend and colleague Charles Messier asM106. Modern deep telescopic views reveal it to be anisland universe -- a spiral galaxy around 30 thousand light-years across located only about 21 million light-years beyond the stars of the Milky Way. Youthful blue star clusters and reddish stellar nurseries trace the striking spiral arms of M106. Seen so clearly inthis beautiful image, the galaxy's bright core is also visibleacross the spectrum from radio to x-rays, making M106 a nearby example of theSeyfert class of active galaxies. The bright core of a Seyfert galaxy is believed to be powered by matter falling into a massivecentral black hole.

Tomorrow's picture: two for one on the Sun

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff(MTU) &Jerry Bonnell(USRA)
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