Looking like a slimmed-down version of the Sombrero Galaxy, NGC 4565 is seen almost exactly edge-on (NGC stands for New General Catalogue). Its core of stars bulges from the centre of a thin disk of spiral arms and dust. NGC 4565 is 50 million light years away.

The other stars in the view are in our own Milky Way galaxy. This can be stated with confidence because, with a few exceptions recently discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope, stars do not exist alone. They are always part of something bigger such as a star cluster or galaxy.

Credit: William McLaughlin (ARGO Cooperative Observatory)