spiral galaxy

The relatively nearby galaxy NGC 4455, observed by Hubble specifically to find its distance. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, I. Karachentsev et al.

NGC 4455: A nearby galaxy that's the stepping stone to the Universe

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

An image of the galaxy NGC 3981 has an interloper: An asteroid passing between us and it, streaked due to the long exposure and colored due to different filters being used. Credit: ESO

A weirdly gorgeous galaxy and an interplanetary interloper

By Phil Plait 2 years ago

The inner disk of the spiral galaxy M 106 shows a pair of “anomalous arms”, actually gas heated by emission from the central black hole. Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), and R. Gendler (for the Hubble Heritage Team). Acknowledgmen

Thanks to a huge black hole, this galaxy grew an extra pair of arms

By Phil Plait 3 years ago

NGC 5559 and a little friend, imaged by Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Parallel galaxies

By Phil Plait 4 years ago

The “true” shape of the lensed galaxy (right, inset), reconstructed by mapping out the structure of the galaxy cluster and determining how it distorted the light of SGAS 1110 on its way to Earth. Credit: NASA, ESA, and T. Johnson (University of Michigan)

A distant galaxy pushes Hubble beyond its limits

By Phil Plait 4 years ago