Classic Model of a Familiar System | Space Wallpaper

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Classic Model of a Familiar System
A first-rate example of a barred spiral galaxy, NGC 4394 rests some 55 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Coma Berenices. (Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA)

In 1784, William Herschel discovered NGC 4394. The pristine barred spiral galaxy resides roughly 55 million light-years away making its home in the Virgo Cluster inside the constellation Coma Berenices. The galaxy offers an ideal specimen of this type of galaxy with its brilliant arms spiraling out from the barred midline of the galaxy. Along the arms young blue stars, dark strands of cosmic dust and glowing sections of star nurseries are sprinkled. [More stunning galactic images.]

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