Fuzzy Wuzzy GalaxyRelatively short arms of gas and dust lend a woolly appearance to the flocculent spiral galaxy known as NGC 2841 in a new picture released last week taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.The galaxy lies about 46 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear. NGC 2841 is unusual because its tightly curled arms display a relatively low rate of star formation compared with other spiral galaxies.
Image courtesy ESA/NASA

Space Pictures This Week: Woolly Galaxy, Solar Flare, Shuttle

An island draped in sea ice, flares spurting from the sun, and dark landslides on the moon are featured among the week's best space pictures.

February 26, 2011