Those people who play with the Hubble telescope say that this galaxy looks “like a UFO”. I call bollocks. This doesn’t look like a UFO. This looks like the galaxy from a long, long time ago, the Star Wars galaxy!
While astronomers prefer bird’s eye views to see the structure details of a galaxy, they also appreciate a side-on view: “a great opportunity to see the delicate dusty lanes of the spiral arms silhouetted against the golden haze of the galaxy’s core. In addition, brilliant clusters of young blue stars shine scattered throughout the disc, mapping the galaxy’s star-forming regions.”
The name of the galaxy is NGC 2683 and it was discovered on February 5, 1788, by William Herschel. This image was made from “two adjacent fields observed in visible and infrared light by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys”.
I just love this star stuff. I feel like Luke watching the Millennium Falcon go from the sick bay of a rebel escort frigate — grabbing Leia’s arse with my new mechanic hand (hey, I don’t know that she’s my sister yet, OK?) [Hubble]