Whirlpool Galaxy

This image of the center of the Whirlpool Galaxy shows visible light from starlight, and light from the emission of hydrogen. Bright star clusters, highlighted in red, shed light emitted by hydrogen atoms. Intricate "dust spurs" branch out around the main spiral arms.

I remember seeing a picture of this galaxy when I was in elementary school. Of course then it was from a ground based telescope and the detail was not as good as the HST image. To me it was the classic galaxy image with the big swirl and arms, now we can see so much more detail and discern fine structure in the gas clouds and star distribution. As I studied Astronomy, in the days before the Hubble Space Telescope, optical astronomy seemed to be fading and being replaced by radio and other forms of study. But now with computer controlled and adjusted telescope mirrors, plus space-based telescopes. Optical astronomy has come back with spectacular results.