NASA news: Breathtaking Hubble picture reveals side-view of spiral galaxy like Milky Way

NASA’S Hubble Space Telescope took an incredible side-on view of the distant galaxy NGC 3432 – a spiral cluster much like our very own Milky Way, Express reports.

The beautiful galaxy NGC 3432 sits in the constellation of Leo Minor or the Lesser Lion in the northern sky. The galaxy is a spiral cluster, much like our Milky Way, with spindly arms full of stars and cosmic material coiling around a central point. In the striking NASA Hubble telescope picture, NGC 3432 was snapped from a side-on view, offering a new perspective on the galaxy. Instead of a twisting spiral in deep space, the Hubble picture instead shows a long, bright streak of light and gas stretching against the darkness of space. 

The European Space Agency (ESA), which operates the Hubble Telescope with NASA, said: “Believe it or not, this long, glowing streak, speckled with bright blisters and pockets of material is a spiral galaxy like our Milky Way. But how could that be?” 

There are four main types of galaxies astronomers have discovered deep in space.