Space agency NASA routinely captures stunning images of our universe, leaving space lovers mesmerized. The Instagram handle of NASA is a treasure trove for those who love to watch educational videos and fascinating images showcasing Earth and space.
On Sunday, NASA shared a stunning picture of a 'Pinwheel Galaxy' which is about 70 percent larger than the Milky Way galaxy, at a diameter of about 170,000 light-years. It's located 21 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Ursa Major (also known as the Big Dipper).
NASA called it a ''Galactic spectrum.'' The image shared on Instagram shows a spiral galaxy with yellow, red, purple, and blue stars at the centre and along its spiral arms. The blue stars at the end of the spiral arms are fading into the darkness of space.
See the image here:
NASA said that the image was produced after combining data from four space telescopes- Hubble, Chandra X-ray Observatory, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Galaxy Evolution Explorer, which allow astronomers to analyze features using multiple parts of the spectrum.
Describing how the image was taken, NASA wrote, ''The yellow shown here is visible light seen from @NASAHubble. In red, the Spitzer Space Telescope shows red colors of infrared light emitted where stars are forming. @NASAChandraXRay captures the hottest area, shown in purple, where we see exploded stars, gas, and material colliding with black holes. Finally, the blue areas are where Galaxy Evolution Explorer depicts ultraviolet light projected by hot young stars.''
Reacting to the picture, one user wrote, ''Graciously Glorious!' Another called it ''Barbie's galaxy version,'' while a third wrote, ''Beyond words.''
''The galaxy is too beautiful,'' added a fourth.
