26K views · 257 reactions | Can you spot the signs of star formation in this spiral galaxy?  Access more space-themed .gifs at our giphy page: https://ow.ly/FzSN50Ume1W | Hubble Space Telescope | Facebook

The Phantom Galaxy, also known as M74, is a grand-design spiral galaxy located about 32 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces. It is noted for its nearly perfect spiral structure, with well-defined arms that spiral out from a central core. The galaxy is rich in star-forming regions and has a low surface brightness, making it a challenging target for amateur astronomers. M74 is an important object of study for understanding galaxy formation and stellar evolution. I made this captur

Let’s zoom in to one of the largest spiral galaxies ever seen, UGC 2885. We look across 232 million light-years of space to see the full expanse of the galaxy, which is over two times the width of our Milky Way galaxy and contains at least 1 trillion stars. The galaxy has been nicknamed Rubin's galaxy, after the late astronomer Vera Rubin, who used the galaxy to look for invisible dark matter. The galaxy is embedded inside a vast halo of dark matter. The @VRubinObs is also named in her honor. Cr