Splotches of bright-pink and blue-white fill the lower half of the image. A bright bar of white stars extends downward from top-center toward the left. Random areas of dusty clouds form dark streams against the bright backdrop.

Hubble’s View of NGC 5068

Patches of bright pink and wisps of dark red paint the foreground of this new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. NGC 5068 is a barred spiral galaxy with thousands of star-forming regions and large quantities of interstellar dust. First discovered by British astronomer William Herschel in 1785, NGC 5068 sits in the southern region of the constellation Virgo and is around 20 million light-years away. Astronomers estimate the galaxy is 45,000 light-years in diameter.

Credits: NASA, ESA, R. Chandar (University of Toledo), and J. Lee (Space Telescope Science Institute); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
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Image CreditNASA, ESA, R. Chandar (University of Toledo), and J. Lee (Space Telescope Science Institute); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
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