Nasa reveals stunning image of ‘hypnotic spiral galaxy’ with long arms that hide a special secret

NASA has shared a mind-blowing image of a spiral galaxy – and it has a secret meaning.

On Sunday, the US space agency took to Twitter to share an image of a stunning galaxy known as Messier 51 (M51), or the Whirlpool Galaxy.

NASA

NASA has shared a mind-blowing image of a spiral galaxy.[/caption]

“Let yourself be whisked away by the Whirlpool Galaxy’s curving arms, pink star-forming regions, and brilliant blue strands of star clusters,” Nasa officials tweeted.

The image was taken in visible light with the Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys.

Nasa describes the Whirlpool Galaxy as possessing “beautifully curving arms, and brilliant blue strands of star clusters.”

Another interesting feature about M51 is that it produces regions of pink stars.

The Whirlpool Galaxy is located about 31 million light-years away from Earth, in the constellation Canes Venatici.

Since going live on Twitter, this breathtaking image has garnered a lot of attention from astronomy lovers.

Nearly 13,000 Twitter users have liked the image so far, and hundreds of others have left comments.

“Absolutely stunning and one of my favorites for sure :),” one user wrote.

“Mesmerizing,” a second Twitter user chimed in.

“This is amazing,” a third person remarked.

M51 was first discovered by Charles Messier in 1773 and is known for its majestic winding arms.

These arms are actually “long lanes of stars and gas laced with dust,” Nasa said in a statement.

To date, three supernovae have been observed in M51 – supernovae refer to a powerful and luminous stellar explosion.