Barred Spiral Galaxy, UGC 12158

Royalty Free

SS2578863

BY7621

The galaxy captured in this image, called UGC 12158, is posing face-on to the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys, revealing its structure in fine detail. UGC 12158 is an excellent example of a barred spiral galaxy. Barred spirals, as the name suggest, feature spectacular swirling arms of stars that emanate from a bar-shaped center. Such bar structures are common, being found in about two thirds of spiral galaxies, and are thought to act as funnels, guiding gas to their galactic centers where it accumulates to form newborn stars. This picture was created from images taken with the Wide Field Channel of Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images through blue (F475W, colored blue), yellow (F606W, colored green) and red (F814W, colored red) as well as a filter that isolates the light from glowing hydrogen (F658W, also colored red) have been included.

ESA/Hubble & NASA / Science Source