The spectacular spiral galaxy ESO 269-G57

Located about 155 million light-years away towards the southern constellation Centaurus (the Centaur), ESO 269-G57 is a spectacular spiral galaxy of symmetrical shape that belongs to a well-known cluster of galaxies seen in this direction. An inner 'ring', of several tightly wound spiral arms, surrounded by two outer ones that appear to split into several branches, are clearly visible. Many blue and diffuse objects are seen — most are star-forming regions. ESO 269-G57 extends over about 4 arc minutes in the sky, corresponding to nearly 200,000 light-years across. Resembling a large fleet of spaceships, many other faint, distant galaxies are visible in the background.Obtained with VLT ANTU and FORS1 in the morning of March 27, 1999. The full field measures 6.8 x 6.8 arcmin2. North is up and East is to the left. The image is based on data collected in the B, V, R and H-alpha filters, for a total exposure time of a little over one hour (64 min). The data were extracted from the ESO Science Archive and further processed by Henri Boffin (ESO).