Edge-on spiral galaxy NGC 3079 is a mere 50 million light-years away toward the constellation Ursa Major.
Shown in this stunning false-color Hubble Space Telescope image, the galaxy's disk - composed of spectacular star clusters in winding spiral arms and dramatic dark lanes of dust - spans some 70,000 light-years.
Still, NGC 3079's most eye-catching features are the pillars of gas which tower above a swirling cosmic cauldron of activity at the galaxy's center.
Seen in the close-up inset at lower right, the pillars rise to a height of about 2,000 light-years and seem to lie on the surface of an immense bubble rising from the galactic core.
Measurements indicate that the gaseous pillars are streaming away from the core at 6 million kilometers per hour.
i dä vergrösserig gseht mo gad wie äm sonic sini mueter dhänd us dä galaxie usestreckt. si isch aber zlang a dä sone glägä, gseht jo nocheme gröbere sonnebrand us...
