This week's #HubbleFriday post features an impressive side profile view of the spiral galaxy UGC 10043.

Located about 150 million light-years away, UGC 10043 is one of the rare spiral galaxies that the Hubble telescope can view from a side view.

From this angle, Hubble cannot clearly see the spiral arms of the galaxy. However, if we were able to look from above UGC 10043, we could notice the clouds of cosmic dust surrounding the galaxy and clearly outline the shape of its spiral arms.

Image description: ,

A spiral galaxy seen directly from the side, such that its disk looks like a narrow diagonal band across the image. A dark band of dust covers the disk in the center all the way to the edges, and the disk glows around it. In the center of the galaxy, a whitish circle of light bulges above and below the disk. Each end of the disk curves slightly. The background is black and mostly empty.

 

Image credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Windhorst, W. Keel