Astronomy Picture of the Day . The Galaxy Within Centaurus A . ... About 1,000 light-years across, the twisted cosmic.. ... Big, beautiful spiral galaxy M101 is one of the last entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog, but definitely not one of the least. ... The Flaming Star Nebula from CFHT . ... The bright star.. ... No one is sure what it will do next. ... A closer look at the Eagle Nebula, however, shows the bright region is actually a window into the center of a larger dark shell of dust. ...