Dusty Arms Encircle Nucleus of Galaxy NGC 2787

Tightly wound, almost concentric arms of dark dust encircle the bright nucleus of galaxy NGC 2787 in this Hubble image taken in 2002. Also visible in the image are what appear to be about a dozen stars, but are, in fact, gravitationally bound groups of hundreds of thousands of ancient stars called globular clusters. Like similar clusters orbiting our own Milky Way Galaxy, these collectives are likely orbiting the center of NGC 2787 in paths that are not in the same plane as the dusty arms. NGC 2787 is located in the northern constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear).