Hubble spots a perfectly balanced spiral galaxy

Today's Image of the Day from the European Space Agency features the galaxy NGC 1015, a cosmic whirlpool located 118 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus, also known as The Whale.  Seen face-on, the galaxy reveals its graceful spiral arms and glowing heart, captured in stunning detail by the Hubble Space Telescope. Spiral galaxies with bars At first glance, NGC 1015 looks almost too symmetrical to be real. Its sweeping arms curl evenly around a bright, dense core, forming a pattern that...