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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Andromeda Through Gas and Dust
NASA ^ | 3 Jun, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: Nick Fritz Text: Keighley Rockcliffe (NASA GSFC, UMBC CSST, CRESST II)

Posted on 06/03/2026 1:03:40 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: Over 1000 years ago, Persian astronomer Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi published humanity’s oldest known record of the Andromeda Galaxy in "The Book of Fixed Stars" (Bodleian Library MS. Marsh 144 p. 167). 800 years later, Andromeda became the 31st entry in Charles Messier’s "Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters". From “a small cloud” to “nebula” and now known to be our nearest major galaxy, Andromeda has remained a fundamental astronomical object. Today’s image, taken over 202 hours, shows how far we have come in our ability to observe our neighbor. The diffuse red and blue clouds are mostly foreground ionized hydrogen and oxygen well within our Milky Way. Pink-red clouds of hydrogen ionized by the energetic light of young stars trace the galaxy’s dusty spiral arms. M32 and M110 are satellite galaxies pictured orbiting the larger Andromeda. Despite its long history of observation through ancient unaided eyes to modern telescopes, Andromeda still holds countless secrets that astronomers will continue to search for, including how galaxies merge and evolve, as well as the nature of the dark matter that galaxies reside in.


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 06/03/2026 1:03:40 PM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 06/03/2026 1:04:05 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

3 posted on 06/03/2026 1:04:25 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

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

4 posted on 06/03/2026 1:05:29 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

On a dark night from a rural area one can glimpse the Andromeda galaxy with the naked eye. It’s roughly 2 1/2 million light years away which might be the farthest thing away visible to the naked eye.


5 posted on 06/03/2026 1:34:12 PM PDT by hanamizu
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To: MtnClimber

MtnClimber! Another great APO picture! Thanks for posting!


6 posted on 06/03/2026 1:38:19 PM PDT by Pete from Shawnee Mission ( )
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To: MtnClimber
On one hand it’s kind of cool to see a photo done with this much exposure time.

On the other, it kind of “obscures” a clear view of the Andromeda galaxy.

7 posted on 06/03/2026 2:19:02 PM PDT by telescope115 (Ad Astra, Ad Deum…)
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To: MtnClimber

Wow.


8 posted on 06/03/2026 2:25:01 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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