Astronomy: A Spectacular Spiral in Leo

Science News

This new picture from ESO's Very Large Telescope shows NGC 3521, a spiral galaxy located about 35 million light years away in the constellation of Leo (The Lion). Spanning about 50,000 light-years, this spectacular object has a bright and compact nucleus, surrounded by richly detailed spiral structure.


This picture of the nearby galaxy NGC 3521 was taken using the FORS1 instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope, at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. The large spiral galaxy lies in the constellation of Leo (The Lion), and is only 35 million light-years distant. This picture was created from exposures taken through three different filters that passed blue light, yellow/green light, and near-infrared light. These are shown in this picture as blue, green, and red, respectively. (Credit: ESO/O. Maliy)

Source:Science DAily

Leo's the best constellation...but that's only because i am a Leo