NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures 'cosmic cinnamon bun'
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Unlike the classic image of a spiral galaxy, however, the huge arms of stars and gas in UGC 12588 are very faint, undistinguished, and tightly wound around its center
The Hubble Space Telescope by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has captured a cosmic cinnamon bun.
Nom nom nom 😋 Our @NASAHubble Space Telescope captured a delicious glance of what resembles a cosmic cinnamon bun. Bluer stars sprinkled around the edges highlight the regions where new stars are most likely being formed: https://t.co/Uc4r0suWOm pic.twitter.com/mmg02e6jkk
— NASA (@NASA) November 22, 2020
Unlike many spiral galaxies, UGC 12588 displays neither a bar of stars across its center nor the classic prominent spiral arm pattern. Instead, to a viewer, its circular, white and mostly unstructured center makes this galaxy more reminiscent of a cinnamon bun than a megastructure of stars and gas in space.
Lying in the constellation of Andromeda in the Northern Hemisphere, this galaxy is classified as a spiral galaxy. Unlike the classic image of a spiral galaxy, however, the huge arms of stars and gas in UGC 12588 are very faint, undistinguished, and tightly wound around its center.
The clearest view of the spiral arms comes from the bluer stars sprinkled around the edges of the galaxy that highlight the regions where new star formation is most likely taking place.