NASA’s Black Hole Study Leads to New Image of Dazzling Barred Spiral Galaxy

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center on Friday released a twinkling new image of NGC 1022, a barred spiral galaxy located more than 60 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Cetus.

According to the space agency, NGC 1022 was given its “barred” classification as a result of the central bars that connect the galaxy’s spiral arms.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snaps image of NGC 1022, a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Cetus.

© Photo : ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Seth

“You can just about make out the bar of stars in the center of the galaxy in this image, with swirling arms emerging from its ends,” reads a statement released by the agency. “This bar is much less prominent than in some of the galaxy’s barred cousins and gives the galaxy a rather squat appearance; but the lanes of dust that swirl throughout its disk ensure it is no less beautiful.”

The new image, which was snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope, was captured amid the American space agency’s ongoing efforts to study and better understand the ever-mysterious black holes.

NGC 1022 and its supermassive center were initially discovered by astronomer William Herschel on September 10, 1785, Sci News reported.