A Gently Glowing Galaxy

A luminous swirl set against the deep black of space, the barred spiral galaxy IC 486 glows with a soft, ethereal light in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image from April 13, 2026.

IC 486 lies right on the edge of the constellation Gemini (the Twins), around 380 million light-years from Earth. Classified as a barred spiral galaxy, it features a bright central bar-shaped structure from which its spiral arms unfurl, wrapping around the core in a smooth, almost ring-like pattern.

Read more about IC 486 and how scientists are studying galaxies using observations like this.

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. J. Koss, A. J. Barth