An uncanny twin of our own Milky Way galaxy takes center stage in a new cosmic portrait by the Hubble Space Telescope unveiled Friday.
The amazing photo shows the galaxy NGC 1073, a barred spiral like our own Milky Way. The galaxy is located 55 million light-years away in the constellation of Cetus (The Sea Monster).
By looking at cosmic wonders thought to be similar to our own galactic home, astronomers hope to learn more about the Milky 
The bars, made of dense lines of stars at the galaxies' centers, are thought to form as gravity causes density waves that push gas inward, supplying material for new stars, Hubble mission researchers explained in a statement. This inflow of gas can also feed the hungry giant black holes thought to inhabit the centers of most such galaxies.
