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| Galaxies occur in a variety of shapes, but among the most eye-catching are the spirals, especially barred spirals. One of the finest in the sky is NGC 1365, the largest spiral in the southern constellation of Fornax, at a distance of about 40 million light years. This beautiful galaxy is about as massive as the Milky Way, itself a substantial galaxy. Not much is known about how galaxies take on their beautiful forms, but a good deal is known about their internal organisation. The obvious 'bar' has the nucleus of the galaxy at its hub and is surrounded by masses of cooler stars that appear yellow on colour photographs. The bar itself is also yellowish, and has distinct dust lanes but it terminates abruptly in slender, curved arms that are lit by blue stars and the pink star-forming regions from which they spring. |