Image: Hubble snaps ghostly galaxy
A notable feature of most聽spiral galaxies聽is the multitude of arching spiral arms that seemingly spin out from the galaxy's center. In this image, taken with聽the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the stunning silvery-blue spiral arms of the galaxy NGC 4848 are observed in immense detail. Not only do we see the inner section of the spiral arms containing hundreds of thousands of young, bright, blue stars, but Hubble has also captured the extremely faint, wispy tails of the outer spiral arms. Myriad more distant and delightfully diverse galaxies appear in the background.
This wispy聽barred spiral galaxy聽was first discovered in 1865 by the German astronomer聽Heinrich Louis d'Arrest. In his career, Heinrich also notably discovered the asteroid聽76 Freia聽and many other galaxies, and he also contributed to the聽discovery of Neptune.
If you are situated in the聽Northern Hemisphere聽with a large telescope, you might just be able to observe the ghost-like appearance of this faint galaxy聽within the faint constellation of聽Coma Berenices聽(Berenice's Hair).
Provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center