April 30, 2026

Image: A gently glowing galaxy

by Monika Luabeya, NASA

edited by Gaby Clark, reviewed by Robert Egan

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Gently Glowing Galaxy
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. J. Koss, A. J. Barth

A luminous swirl set against the deep black of space, the barred spiral galaxy IC 486 glows with a soft, ethereal light in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image from April 13, 2026.

IC 486 lies right on the edge of the constellation Gemini (the Twins), around 380 million light-years from Earth. Classified as a barred spiral galaxy, it features a bright central bar-shaped structure from which its spiral arms unfurl, wrapping around the core in a smooth, almost ring-like pattern.

Key concepts
GalaxiesSpiral armsSpiral galaxies

Provided by NASA

Citation: Image: A gently glowing galaxy (2026, April 30) retrieved 1 May 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-04-image-gently-galaxy.html
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