The Hubble telescope saw a spiral galaxy in a dark cloud

Part of the galaxy is hidden by a dark dust lane.

Photo: ESA

The Hubble Space Telescope photographed the spiral galaxy IC 4633 in the constellation Apus. It has an active galactic nucleus and continues to form stars.

As informs European Space Agency, IC 4633 is located 100 million light years from Earth. Because most of the galaxy is tilted toward Earth, astronomers can get a good look at its billions of stars.

However, it is impossible to fully assess the features of this galaxy, because it is partially hidden by a band of dark dust.

The nebula is part of the Chameleon star-forming region, located in a nearby part of the Milky Way galaxy about 500 light-years from Earth.

It is classified as an integrated stream nebula – a cloud of gas and dust that is not located near any individual star, but is only faintly illuminated by the general light of all the stars of the galaxy.

In the bright part of the galaxy, a disk consisting of many tightly twisted spiral arms can be seen.

Bright spots of star formation are also visible in the image. A large cloud of dark gray gas covers the right side and part of the center.

Previously, TThe Hubble telescope showed a group of two interacting galaxies.