Inhabited by young blue star clusters, the spiral arms of NGC 1350 seem to join in a circle around the galaxy's large, bright nucleus - giving the galaxy the appearance of a limpid cosmic eye.
NGC 1350 is about 130,000 light-years across making it as large or slightly larger than our own Milky Way.
For earth-based astronomers, NGC 1350 is seen on the outskirts of the Fornax cluster of galaxies, but its estimated distance suggests that it is not itself a cluster member.
The sharp image also reveals many background galaxies, some visible right through NGC 1350.
