January 8, 2021
On the day you were born, another consciousness opened inside the cosmos and began taking notes.
NGC 1365: Majestic Island Universe
Birthday · January 8, 2021
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published January 8, 2021. Credit: island universe. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 is truly a majestic island universe some 200,000 light-years across. Located a mere 60 million light-years away toward the chemical constellation Fornax, NGC 1365 is a dominant member of the well-studied Fornax Cluster of galaxies. This impressively sharp color image shows the intense, reddish star forming regions near the ends of central bar and along the spiral arms, with details of the obscuring dust lanes cutting across the galaxy's bright core. At the core lies a supermassive black hole. Astronomers think NGC 1365's prominent bar plays a crucial role in the galaxy's evolution, drawing gas and dust into a star-forming maelstrom and ultimately feeding material into the central black hole.
Image credit: island universe