Space Image of the Day Gallery (September 2013)

By Tom Chao
published

We'll Ride the Spiral to the End

Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/Coelum

Monday, Sept. 30, 2013: Spiral galaxy NGC 4274 lies 60 million light years away from us in the constellaion of Coma Berenices. It contains much star fuel, in the form of the gas and dust that give the galaxy’s disk a fluffy appearance. The spiral arms serve as the nurseries that give rise to stars, traced by lines of luminous young blue stars.

— Tom Chao

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Tom Chao
Tom Chao
Tom Chao has contributed to SPACE.com as a producer and writer since 2000. As a writer and editor, he has worked for the Voyager Company, Time Inc. New Media, HarperCollins and Worth Publishers. He has a bachelor’s degree in Cinema Production from the University of Southern California, and a master’s degree from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Tom on Google+.