This week’s image comes from the Hubble Space Telescope. It shows an almost too perfect spiral galaxy that might have come from AI software, but it is a real image from NASA and ESA. You are looking at spiral galaxy IC 4709, which is about 240 million light-years away.
Here is more information on the image from the ESA’s Hubble site:
Its view here is studded with stars, many of which appear particularly large and bright thanks to their nearby locations in our own galaxy, and which feature the characteristic diffraction patterns caused by Hubble’s optics. Much further away — around 240 million light-years distant in fact, in the southern constellation Telescopium — is the spiral galaxy IC 4709. Its swirling disc filled with stars and dust bands is beautifully captured, as is the faint halo surrounding it. The compact region at its core might be the most remarkable sight, however: this is an active galactic nucleus (AGN).
Our Awesome Universe 