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Birthday · August 30, 2026

M74: A Grand Design Spiral

August 30, 2026

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Selected image source ↗ APOD published August 30, 2026. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.

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M74: A Grand Design Spiral

Original APOD · August 30, 2026 ↗

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If not the most grand, then this spiral galaxy is at least one of the most photogenic. An island universe of about 100 billion stars, 32 million light-years away toward the constellation Pisces, M74 presents a gorgeous face-on view. Classified as an Sc galaxy, the grand design of M74's graceful spiral arms are traced by bright blue star clusters and dark cosmic dust lanes. Constructed from archival images, this sharp composite is from the Hubble Space Telescope. Spanning about 30,000 light-years across the face of M74, it includes exposures recording emission from hydrogen atoms, highlighting the reddish glow of the galaxy's large star-forming regions. APOD's main NASA site is moving: From apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod

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