M74 is the PERFECT SPIRAL GALAXY. I guess. I’m not really sure.

Hey, if NASA calls this shit the perfect spiral then I’m totally down. I don’t know anything about perfection. Or spirals. Stars are pretty though. I look at them, thinking of you. Your beautiful biceps. I hold myself, thinking of you. Staring at galaxies.

Wait uh whatever. Just hit the jump for the full beauty.

If not perfect, then this spiral galaxy is at least one of the most photogenic. An island universe of about 100 billion stars, 32 million light-years away toward the constellation Pisces, M74 presents a gorgeousface-on view. Classified as an Sc galaxy, the grand design of M74’s graceful spiral arms are traced by bright blue star clusters and dark cosmic dust lanes. Constructed from image data recorded in 2003 and 2005, this sharp composite is from the Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. Spanning about 30,000 light-years across the face of M74, it includes exposures recording emission from hydrogen atoms, highlightingthe reddish glow of the galaxy’s large star-forming regions. Recently, many astronomers are tracking a bright supernova that has been seen in M74.

[NASA]