Like our home galaxy, The Lost Galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy: a vast swirl of stars with a distinct bar structure at its center.
Less-poetic scientists know this galaxy as NGC 4535, one of the largest of the 2,000-or-so galaxies in the Virgo Cluster located about 50 million light-years from Earth. When viewed through NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, which captured the stunning image above, the haze that clouded Copeland’s Lost Galaxy vanishes to reveal a vibrant sea of stars not so different from the Milky Way.
For more including the stunning photo, check out this Live Science story.