This is NGC 4217, a spiral galaxy located 60 million light years from Earth.
The galaxy is almost perfectly edge on, allowing scientists to study the nature of the gas and dust above and below the plane of the galaxy. The dust structures that come from the galaxy plane are up to 7000 light years in length
The properties of the observed dust structures in NGC 4217 suggest that the gas and dust were driven out of the mid-plane of the galaxy by powerful stellar winds resulting from supernovae.
The galaxy is almost perfectly edge on, allowing scientists to study the nature of the gas and dust above and below the plane of the galaxy. The dust structures that come from the galaxy plane are up to 7000 light years in length
The properties of the observed dust structures in NGC 4217 suggest that the gas and dust were driven out of the mid-plane of the galaxy by powerful stellar winds resulting from supernovae.