Zoom into NGC 1300

Bold and beautiful, NGC 1300 is a marvelous example of a barred spiral galaxy. Unlike in other spiral galaxies where the starry arms curl outward from the center of the galaxy, NGC 1300’s arms twist away from the ends of a straight bar of stars that stretches across the galaxy’s core. Observational evidence suggests that our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is a barred spiral as well.