NGC 5248 is a striking barred spiral galaxy located about 59 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo.
This deep image reveals a textbook example of galactic architecture: a bright central bar encircled by tightly wound inner spiral arms, which gradually unwind into a more loosely wrapped outer structure. The galaxy spans roughly 5.0 by 3.5 arcminutes in the sky, corresponding to an actual size of about 85,000 by 60,000 light-years.
The core glows with a warm golden light from older stars, while the sweeping arms are richly textured with blue star clusters, pink hydrogen emission regions, and intricate dust lanes. The addition of Hydrogen-alpha data makes the sites of ongoing star formation especially vivid—Ha-rich regions appear along both the inner arms and outer disk, tracing out massive stellar nurseries where young, hot stars are actively shaping their surroundings.
Though it appears symmetric at first glance, NGC 5248 shows subtle asymmetries and patchiness in its spiral arms, particularly on the western side, hinting at possible past interactions or internal dynamical instabilities. These variations only add to the galaxy’s visual interest, drawing attention to the complexity behind its otherwise graceful form.
Beyond the galaxy itself, the background is filled with a scattering of distant galaxies, including several small edge-ons and ellipticals that dot the field like quiet spectators in this stellar performance.
Imaged in LRGB and Hydrogen Alpha on my Planewave CDK 1000 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Image acquisition and processing: Mike Selby