{"next":"2026-02-05","photo":{"source":"nasa","date":"2026-02-04","cid":"bafkreiagnbzsfyj72jmmnivfldtmfypcukj2egapwvbfsobq4pjhqexrgy","title":"Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: Wide Field","explanation":"Most galaxies don't have any rings -- why does this galaxy have three?  To begin, a ring that's near NGC 1512's center -- and so hard to see here -- is the nuclear ring which glows brightly with recently formed stars.  Next out is a ring of stars and dust appearing both red and blue, called, counter-intuitively, the inner ring.  This inner ring connects ends of a diffuse central bar of stars that runs horizontally across the galaxy.  Farthest out in this wide field image is a ragged structure that might be considered an outer ring. This outer ring appears spiral-like and is dotted with clusters of bright blue stars.  All these ring structures are thought to be affected by NGC 1512's own gravitational asymmetries in a drawn-out process called secular evolution.  The featured image was captured last month from a telescope at Deep Sky Chile in Chile.","imageUrl":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2602/NGC1512_stern_6214.jpg","thumbUrl":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2602/NGC1512_stern_960.jpg","mediaType":"image","credit":"Daniel Stern","sourceUrl":"https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260204.html","placeholder":false,"fetchedAt":"2026-05-19T04:34:10Z"},"prev":"2026-02-03","source":"nasa"}