Subaru Telescope captures "neighboring galaxies" NGC 3504 and NGC 3512 with completely different characters

Explanation

The Subaru Telescope's ultra-wide-field camera "HSC" captured images of two galaxies, NGC 3504 and NGC 3512, which appear to line up next to each other about 80 million light-years from Earth. NGC 3504 has a bar-shaped structure running through its center surrounded by a bright ring structure, and is known as a "starburst galaxy" that produces new stars at a much faster pace than ordinary galaxies. NGC 3512, on the other hand, is an ordinary spiral galaxy without a bar structure, spreading out intricately branching spiral arms. The image shows how galaxies that look similar at first glance can have very different internal appearances, demonstrating the rich diversity of galaxies.