This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the spiral galaxy M74. Bright knots of glowing gas light up the spiral arms, indicating a rich environment of star formation. Messier 74, also called NGC 628, is an example of a grand-design spiral galaxy that is viewed by Earth observers nearly face-on.
M74 is located roughly 32 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Pisces.
It is the dominant member of a small group of about half a dozen galaxies, the M74 galaxy group.
In its entirety, it is estimated that M74 is home to about 100 billion stars, making it slightly smaller than our Milky Way.
Picture: NASA/ESA/AFP/Getty
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