The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has released a detailed image of the spiral galaxy NGC 3596, located approximately 90 million light-years away in the constellation Leo. The image, captured on May 5, 2025, showcases the galaxy's intricate structure and provides valuable insights into star formation.
NGC 3596 was first discovered by William Herschel in 1784 and is observed almost face-on from Earth, allowing astronomers to study its spiral arms, star-forming regions, and the distribution of gas and cosmic dust in detail. The bright spiral arms are areas where stars, gas, and dust are concentrated, and where star formation is most active, as evidenced by the pink star-forming regions and young blue stars visible in the image.
The image incorporates six different wavelengths of light, providing a comprehensive view of the galaxy. Researchers believe that spiral arms represent patterns of high and low-density areas, rather than physical structures. As stars, gas, and dust orbit within a galaxy's disc, they move in and out of these spiral arms, bunching up as they enter and then spreading out as they exit, similar to cars in a traffic jam.