AI-generated astronomical illustration made with Exas: an edge-on spiral galaxy. Not Hubble data, an observation of NGC 1827 or a measured scientific model.

A spiral galaxy can look very different when viewed from its edge. In a report published on 16 October 2026, NASA’s Hubble Mission Team highlighted NGC 1827, roughly 37 million light-years away in the constellation Columba. [1]

The Hubble image, taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys, reveals dark dust lanes crossing the galaxy’s disk. Bright blue patches along the disk mark places where new stars are likely forming. The word “likely” matters: the report describes an interpretation of the image, rather than a count of newly formed stars. [1]

A bright star near the galaxy’s central bulge is actually in the foreground, between Earth and NGC 1827. Its cross-like diffraction spikes come from Hubble’s optical support structure. Those points belong to the imaging process, not the star’s physical shape. The October date is the report’s publication date; it should not be treated as the date the galaxy was discovered or the image was observed. [1]

Sources & further reading

  1. NASA Hubble Mission Team / Goddard Space Flight Center — NASA’s Hubble Spies Spiral’s Edge (16 October 2026)