NGC 1300

NGC 1300 is considered by many as a prototypical barred spiral galaxy. Barred spirals differ from normal spiral galaxies in that the arms of the galaxy do not curve all the way into the core, but are connected to the two ends of a straight bar of stars containing the nucleus at its center. With Hubble's resolution, a myriad of fine details can be seen throughout the galaxy's arms, disk, bulge, and nucleus. Blue and red supergiant stars, star clusters, and star-forming regions are visible across the spiral arms, and dust lanes trace out fine structures in the disk and bar. Numerous more distant galaxies are visible in the background, and are seen even through the densest regions of NGC 1300. In the core of the galaxy, the nucleus shows its own extraordinary and distinct spiral structure that is about 3,300 light-years (1 kiloparsec) across. Only galaxies with large-scale bars appear to have these inner disks — a spiral within a spiral. For more information, please visit: hubblesite.org/image/1636/news_release/2005-01