NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures 'cosmic cinnamon bun'

TheHubble Space Telescope by theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has captured a cosmic cinnamon bun.

Unlike many spiral galaxies, UGC 12588 displays neither abar of stars across its centernor the classic prominentspiral arm pattern. Instead, to a viewer, its circular, white and mostly unstructured center makes this galaxy more reminiscent of a cinnamon bun than a megastructure of stars and gas in space.

Lying in the constellation ofAndromedain the Northern Hemisphere, this galaxy is classified as aspiral galaxy. Unlike the classic image of a spiral galaxy, however, the huge arms of stars and gas in UGC 12588 are very faint, undistinguished, and tightly wound around its center.

The clearest view of the spiral arms comes from the bluer stars sprinkled around the edges of the galaxy that highlight the regions where new star formation is most likely taking place.