A gorgeous spiral galaxy some 100 million light-years distant,
NGC 1309 lies on the banks of the constellation of the River
(Eridanus). NGC 1309 spans about 30,000 light-years, making it
about one third the size of our larger Milky Way galaxy. Bluish
clusters of young stars and dust lanes are seen to trace out NGC
1309's spiral arms as they wind around an older yellowish star
population at its core. Not just another pretty face-on spiral
galaxy, observations of NGC 1309's recent supernova and Cepheid
variable stars contribute to the the expansion of the Universe.
Still, after you get over this beautiful galaxy's the array of
more distant background galaxies also recorded in the above,
sharp, reprocessed, Hubble Space Telescope view. Hubble Legacy
Archive,