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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Messier 109
NASA ^ | 27 Jun, 2025 | Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Eder

Posted on 06/27/2025 12:37:47 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: Big beautiful barred spiral galaxy Messier 109 is the 109th entry in Charles Messier's famous catalog of bright Nebulae and Star Clusters. You can find it just below the Big Dipper's bowl in the northern constellation Ursa Major. In fact, bright dipper star Phecda, Gamma Ursa Majoris, produces the glare at the upper right corner of this telescopic frame. M109's prominent central bar gives the galaxy the appearance of the Greek letter "theta", θ, a common mathematical symbol representing an angle. M109 spans a very small angle in planet Earth's sky though, about 7 arcminutes or 0.12 degrees. But that small angle corresponds to an enormous 120,000 light-year diameter at the galaxy's estimated 60 million light-year distance. The brightest member of the now recognized Ursa Major galaxy cluster, M109 (aka NGC 3992) is joined by spiky foreground stars. Three small, fuzzy bluish galaxies also on the scene, identified (top to bottom) as UGC 6969, UGC 6940 and UGC 6923, are possibly satellite galaxies of the larger barred spiral galaxy Messier 109.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 06/27/2025 12:37:47 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 06/27/2025 12:38:12 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; A Navy Vet; A_perfect_lady; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; ...
Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

3 posted on 06/27/2025 12:39:26 PM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

Fascinating.


4 posted on 06/27/2025 1:09:55 PM PDT by NavyShoe
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To: MtnClimber

Wow.


5 posted on 06/27/2025 1:14:31 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as)
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To: MtnClimber

That bright star, Phecda, is the only reason I haven’t been able to see M109.


6 posted on 06/27/2025 3:42:26 PM PDT by telescope115 (I NEED MY SPACE!!! 🔭)
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