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Astronomy Picture of the Day- Government shutdown so no APOD Today. I will dig up some of my favorites - Messier 101
NASA ^ | 2 Mar, 2006 | Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CFHT, NOAO; Acknowledgement - K.Kuntz (GSFC), F.Bresolin (U.Hawaii), J.Trau

Posted on 10/03/2025 11:38:46 AM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: Big, beautiful spiral galaxy M101 is one of the last entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog, but definitely not one of the least. About 170,000 light-years across, this galaxy is enormous, almost twice the size of our own Milky Way galaxy. M101 was also one of the original spiral nebulae observed by Lord Rosse's large 19th century telescope, the Leviathan of Parsontown. Assembled from 51 exposures recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope in the 20th and 21st centuries, with additional data from ground based telescopes, this mosaic of M101 is touted as the largest, most detailed spiral galaxy view ever released from Hubble. The sharp image shows stunning features along the galaxy's face-on disk of stars and dust along with background galaxies, some visible right through M101 itself. Also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy, M101 lies within the boundaries of the northern constellation Ursa Major, about 25 million light-years away.


TOPICS: Astronomy; 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 10/03/2025 11:38:46 AM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 10/03/2025 11:39:06 AM 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 10/03/2025 11:39:55 AM 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

That’s my screen saver.


4 posted on 10/03/2025 11:46:18 AM PDT by ComputerGuy
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To: MtnClimber

Way to push back against the Deep State Mountainclimber!


5 posted on 10/03/2025 12:25:54 PM PDT by ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton (You can vote totalitarians in but you can never vote them out...)
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To: ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton
Way to push back against the Deep State Mountainclimber!

We don't need NASA "muslim outreach" or "China outreach" photos. The Hubble and Webb photos will do nicely.

6 posted on 10/03/2025 12:29:07 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
We don't need NASA "muslim outreach" or "China outreach" photos. The Hubble and Webb photos will do nicely.

Amen to that! Magnificent image.

7 posted on 10/03/2025 12:47:47 PM PDT by AFB-XYZ (( We have two options: 1. Stand up, or 2. Bend over))
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To: MtnClimber
Got any really good ones of the Horse head nebula?

That's always a stunning photo.

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)

LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

8 posted on 10/03/2025 1:40:40 PM PDT by LonePalm (Commander and Chef)
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To: LonePalm

I will look for a good Horse Head Nebula, maybe for tomorrow.


9 posted on 10/03/2025 2:14:01 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

Here


10 posted on 10/03/2025 3:08:57 PM PDT by SkyDancer ( ~ Am Yisrael Chai ~)
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To: MtnClimber

You might try looking in the Jack Woltz’s Bed nebula.


11 posted on 10/03/2025 3:22:42 PM PDT by Category Four (Joy, Fun, the Joke Proper, and Flippancy ... Flippancy is the best of all.)
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To: MtnClimber

Today 3i-Atlas made its closest approach to Mars, the closest it will get to any planet. The HiRES telescope in orbit around Mars probably took some of the best pictures that any platform was going to achieve. We couldn’t see the pictures today, not only because of the Government shutdown but because Mars is too close to the Sun from our viewpoint to receive any data. I look forward to such information eventually getting back here to Earth.


12 posted on 10/03/2025 10:56:46 PM PDT by Nateman (Democrats did not strive for fraud friendly voting merely to continue honest elections.)
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