Pan Video: IC 486

A luminous swirl set against the deep black of space, the barred spiral galaxy IC 486 glows with a soft, ethereal light in this new ESA/Hubble Picture of the Month image. IC 486 lies right on the edge of the constellation Gemini ( the Twins ), around 380 million light-years from Earth. Classified as a barred spiral galaxy , it features a bright central bar-shaped structure from which its spiral arms unfurl, wrapping around the core in a smooth, almost ring-like pattern.