NASA. DEEP SPACE. LARGE FORMAT. HUBBLE TELESCOPE. "Birds of - Lot 303

NASA. DEEP SPACE. LARGE FORMAT. HUBBLE TELESCOPE. "Birds of a feather. The spiral configuration of the galaxy shown in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is striking for its delicate, feathery nature. These "flaky" spiral arms indicate that the galaxy's recent history of star formation has been relatively quiet. There is virtually no star formation in the central part of the galaxy, which is dominated by an unusually large and relatively empty galactic bulge, where all the gas was converted to stars long ago. THE "birds of a feather" galaxy is classified as a flocculated spiral galaxy, located 67 million light-years away in the constellation Cancer. Millions of young blue stars shine in the complex feather-shaped spiral arms, intertwined with dark dust lanes. The complexes of these hot blue stars are thought to trigger star formation in the surrounding gas clouds. The feather-like spirals of the arms are then formed by the shearing of gas clouds as the galaxy rotates. The spiral nature of the flocculents contrasts with the large-design spirals, which have prominent, well-defined spiral arms. Vintage chromogenic print. Numbering on front. Legend on label on back. 40.6 x 40.6CM with margins.