From NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center May 30, 2022
Image from the Hubble Space Telescope at NGC 3631, the great designer spiral about 53 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Ursa Major. Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Filippenko (University of California – Berkeley) and D. Sand (University of Arizona); Image processing: G. Kober (NASA Goddard / Catholic University of America)
This image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope represents the Grand Design spiral, NGC 3631, located approximately 53 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Ursa Major. The “hands” of the spectacular spirals seem to wrap around and in the core of the galaxy.
Unlike multi-arm and flocculent spirals, which have softer structural elements, the spiral galaxy with a grand design has obvious and well-defined spiral arms. The spiral arms of the galaxy with a spectacular design extend clearly across the galaxy through many radians and can be seen over a significant part of the radius of the galaxy.
Careful inspection of the large spiral arms of NGC 3631 reveals dark dust bands and bright star-shaped areas on the inside of the spiral arms. The formation of stars in spirals is like a traffic jam on the interstate. Like cars on the highway, the slower-moving matter in the spiral disc creates a bottleneck by concentrating star-forming gas and dust on the inside of their spiral arms. This clogging of matter can become so dense that it gravitationally collapses, creating new stars (seen here in bright blue and white).
The image uses data collected from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys. Blue represents visible wavelengths of blue light, and orange represents infrared light.
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