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Credit & Copyright: Gemini Observatory,
GMOS Team
Explanation:
If not perfect, then this
spiral
galaxy is at least one of the most photogenic.
An island universe
of about 100 billion stars,
30 million light-years away toward the
constellation Pisces,
NGC 628 or M74 presents a gorgeous
face-on view
to earthbound astronomers.
Classified
as an Sc galaxy, the grand design
of M74's graceful spiral
arms traced by bright blue
star clusters and dark
cosmic dust lanes,
is similar in many respects to our own home galaxy, the
Milky Way.
Recorded with a 28 million
pixel
detector array, this impressive
image celebrated first light for
the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph
(GMOS), a state-of-the-art instrument
operational at the 8-meter
Gemini North telescope.
The Gemini North Observatory gazes into the skies above
Mauna Kea,
Hawaii, USA, while its twin observatory,
Gemini South,
operates from
Cerro PachÑn in central Chile.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: M 74 - spiral galaxy - Gemini telescope
Publications with words: M 74 - spiral galaxy - Gemini telescope
See also:
- Webb and Hubble: IC 5332
- APOD: 2026 February 4 Á Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: Wide Field
- Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1365 from Webb
- APOD: 2026 January 14 Á M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy
- IC 342: Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis
- NGC 253: Dusty Island Universe
- APOD: 2025 November 5 Á Spiral Galaxy NGC 3370 from Hubble