Hubble telescope shares image of barred spiral galaxy NGC 4535

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the image of NGC 613, a barred spiral galaxy, NASA said in a post.

The galaxy that was first found by German-English astronomer William Herschel in 1798 lies in the southern constellation of Sculptor and is 67 million light-years away.

NASA's post said the galaxy is "easily distinguishable" as it has "well-defined central bar and long arms".

"It is easily distinguishable as such because of its well-defined central bar and long arms, which spiral loosely around its nucleus," NASA said.

"As revealed by surveys, about two-thirds of spiral galaxies, including our own Milky Way galaxy, contain a bar."

The post said that recent researches have shown that bars are more common in galaxies than they earlier were, thereby giving important insights about "galaxy formation and evolution".

"The bright colors in this Hubble image aren't just beautiful to look at, as they actually tell us about the population of stars within NGC 4535," Hubble astronomers was quoted as saying by Sci-News.

"The bright blue-ish colors, seen nestled amongst its long, spiral arms, indicate the presence of a greater number of younger and hotter stars."

When this galaxy was observed from a smaller telescope, it had a hazy, ghostly appearance, which led the famous amateur astronomer Leland S. Copeland to call it "The Lost Galaxy" in the 1950s.

The Hubble astronomers said the galaxy was studied as part of the PHANGS survey, which intends to clarify the connections between "cold gas clouds, star formation, and the overall shape and other properties of galaxies."