APOD: 2026 May 17 – NGC 1300: Barred Spiral Galaxy
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Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2026 May 17
NGC 1300: Barred Spiral Galaxy
Image Credit:
NASA
ESA,
Hubble Heritage
Explanation:
Across the center of this spiral galaxy is a
bar.
And at the center of this bar is smaller
spiral.
And at the center of that spiral is a
supermassive black hole.
This all happens in the big, beautiful,
barred spiral galaxy
cataloged as NGC 1300, a galaxy that lies some
70 million light-years away toward the
constellation of the river Eridanus.
This Hubble Space Telescope composite
view of the gorgeous
island universe is one of the
most detailed
Hubble images ever made of a complete galaxy.
NGC 1300
spans over 100,000
light-years and the Hubble image reveals
striking details of the galaxy’s dominant central bar and majestic spiral arms.
How the giant bar formed, how it remains, and how it affects
star formation remains an
active topic of research.
Jigsaw Universe:
Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
Tomorrow’s picture: spiral unraveling
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Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn
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