# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/BjNWwdzlosF
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/11735204-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/84a9f9141d.jpg
- **Posted:** 2018-05-25T17:24:01.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

Although beautiful, this image from the Hubble Space Telescope (NASAHubble) does not do justice to this galaxy’s true appeal: it is actually a spectacular spiral galaxy! From Earth, the galaxy’s vast disk of gas, dust and stars is seen nearly edge-on, flat like a pancake. 
Located about a hundred million light-years away in the constellation Cetus (the Sea Monster), this spiral galaxy is not the only one seen here. A handful of other galaxies can be seen lurking in the background, scattered around the narrow strip the main galaxy. Many are oriented face-on or at tilted angles, showing off their glamorous spiral arms and bright cores. Such orientations provide a wealth of detail about the arms and their nuclei, but fully understanding a galaxy’s three-dimensional structure also requires an edge-on view. This gives astronomers an overall idea of how stars are distributed throughout the galaxy and allows them to measure the “height” of the disk and the bright star-studded core.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
#nasa #space #hubble #spothubble #galaxy #universe #solarsystem #bright #stars #lightyears #science #pictureoftheday #spiral #flat #galaxies #picoftheday

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 592,753
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- **Comments:** 2,333

## Tags

nasa, hubble, flat, picoftheday, space, spiral, galaxy, science, galaxies, universe, spothubble, bright, solarsystem, stars, pictureoftheday, lightyears

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