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THE WHALE GALAXY25 million light-years The Whale Galaxy is a large beautiful spiral galaxy seen edge-on. It is situated within the small northern constellation Canes Venatici (the hunting dogs). This galaxy's distorted shape suggests a huge cosmic whale, explaining its strange name. The galaxy is accentuated by dark dust lanes. The image also shows young bright blue star clusters and red star-forming regions glowing in hydrogen gas. Credit: Johannes Schedler. |