M100 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies in the huge Virgo Cluster of galaxies, located about 51 million light years from the Earth and estimated to contain 2,500 galaxies in all. M100 actually lies in the constellation Coma Berenices, adjacent to Virgo.
Bright knots of hot young blue stars are seen to delineate the spiral arms of the galaxy. Astronomers who have examined this image in its full detail are excited to note the sprinkling of individually resolved stars and the numerous dark dust lanes across the body of M100. In galaxies so far away, the stars are typically blurred together when viewed by ground-based telescopes. Many of the dark lanes are thinner and more complex than the large dust lanes photographed by telescopes on the ground.
Camera: WFPC2
Technical Information: Composite of three images taken through red, green and blue filters. This image is artistically enhanced.
