Close-up: Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 5335 in Virgo | Hubble Space Telescope

Close-up: Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 5335 in Virgo | Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope captured in exquisite detail a face-on view of a remarkable-looking galaxy 225 million light-years away. NGC 5335 is categorized as a flocculent spiral galaxy with patchy streamers of star formation across its disk. There is a striking lack of well-defined spiral arms that are commonly found among galaxies, including our Milky Way. A notable bar structure slices across the center of the galaxy. The bar channels gas inwards toward the galactic center, fueling star formation. Such bars are dynamic in galaxies and may come and go over two-billion-year intervals. They appear in about 30 percent of observed galaxies, including our Milky Way.

Image Description: Barred spiral galaxy NGC 5335 observed by the Hubble Space Telescope takes up the majority of the view. At its center is a milky yellow, flattened oval that extends bottom left to top. Within the oval is a bright central region that looks circular, with the very center the brightest. In the bright central region is what looks like a bar, extending from top left to bottom right. Around this is a thick swath of blue stars speckled with white regions. Multiple arms wrap up and around in a counterclockwise direction, becoming fainter the farther out they are. Both the white core and the spiral arms are intertwined with dark streaks of dust. The background of space is black. Thousands of distant galaxies in an array of colors are speckled throughout.

Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble)

Duration: 30 seconds
Release Date: April 23, 2025

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