Picture of the day - November 8, 2007

Spiral Galaxy M81

Photo courtesy of NASA. Today's picture features a spectacular image of what is perhaps the most "famous" galaxy in the universe excluding our own Milky Way. The gorgeous cluster of stars, gases and planets we know as Spiral Galaxy M81 has been photographed numerous times in recent years, but the "original" of this image is the sharpest image of the galaxy ever produced. It was "assembled" by combining data that was gathered by the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys over a time span of three years (2004-2006)! Ever since God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we humans have been looking up at the night sky with wonder and amazement at the heavenly bodies that appear above us. A few hundred years ago we discovered that peering through a telescope could allow us to see farther and clearer than ever before, removing the limitation of only being able to see the objects that are visible from earth with the naked eye. In the years that followed we built larger and better telescopes, each of which enabled us to see farther and clearer still. Then on April 25, 1990 NASA placed in earth orbit the most powerful telescope ever built, the Hubble, and since that day we have had the privilege of seeing distant objects in such detail and clarity that the late  Edwin Hubble himself would be absolutely amazed. Spiral Galaxy M81 can be seen with even the smallest "hobby" telescopes, and a handful of people have even been able to spot it with their naked eyes. But the amazing image above could only have been captured through the "eyes" of the Hubble. I look forward to seeing what the NASA scientists and engineers come up with next!   Click here to comment on today's picture.   Visit the POTD Archives for previous "Pictures Of The Day"!     Submit a photo of your own!            Why I publish the "Picture of the Day"