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Astronomy Picture of the Day- Government shutdown so no APOD Today. I will dig up some of my favorites - NGC 2903: A Missing Jewel in Leo
NASA ^ | 10 Apr, 2015 | Image Credit & Copyright: Tony Hallas

Posted on 10/20/2025 12:47:01 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: Barred spiral galaxy NGC 2903 is only some 20 million light-years distant. Popular among amateur astronomers, it shines in the northern spring constellation Leo, near the top of the lion's head. That part of the constellation is sometimes seen as a reversed question mark or sickle. One of the brighter galaxies visible from the northern hemisphere, NGC 2903 is surprisingly missing from Charles Messier's catalog of lustrous celestial sights. This colorful image from a small ground-based telescope shows off the galaxy's gorgeous spiral arms traced by young, blue star clusters and pinkish star forming regions. Included are intriguing details of NGC 2903's bright core, a remarkable mix of old and young clusters with immense dust and gas clouds. In fact, NGC 2903 exhibits an exceptional rate of star formation activity near its center, also bright in radio, infrared, ultraviolet, and x-ray bands. Just a little smaller than our own Milky Way, NGC 2903 is about 80,000 light-years across.


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 10/20/2025 12:47:01 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 10/20/2025 12:47:19 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 10/20/2025 12:48:07 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

Black Hole.................

4 posted on 10/20/2025 12:48:52 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger

5 posted on 10/20/2025 12:54:59 PM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: Magnum44

How?

Will it plug up Uranus?.....................


6 posted on 10/20/2025 12:55:29 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger

7 posted on 10/20/2025 12:59:32 PM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic... )
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To: Red Badger

LOL!


8 posted on 10/20/2025 2:52:16 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: MtnClimber

9 posted on 10/20/2025 2:54:51 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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10 posted on 10/20/2025 2:59:50 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

:)


11 posted on 10/20/2025 3:06:15 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

MUCH better than the shots I got last spring with my Dwarf 3 scope. BUT, my shots were more detailed than looking through my scope.


12 posted on 10/20/2025 4:17:05 PM PDT by Conan the Librarian (Conan the Sailing Librarian)
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