Small, tight spiral galaxy with a glowing gold center and dark dust lanes and clusters of blue stars in its winding arms.

This is no supermodel spiral

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observes some of the most beautiful galaxies in our skies — spirals sparkling with bright stellar nurseries, violent duos ripping gas and stars away from one another as they tangle together, and ethereal irregular galaxies that hang like flocks of birds suspended in the blackness of space. However, galaxies, like humans, are not all supermodels. This little spiral, known as NGC 4102, has a different kind of appeal, with its tightly-wound spiral arms and understated, but charming, appearance.

Credits: ESA/Hubble, NASA and S. Smartt (Queen's University Belfast) Acknowledgement: Renaud Houdinet