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By Dr David Whitehouse
BBC News Online science editor
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Situated 98 million light-years distant in the constellation of Leo, the majestic dusty spiral galaxy NGC 3370 is the latest object to be scrutinised by the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the Hubble Space Telescope.
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The magnificent dusty spiral galaxy NGC 3370
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Recent observations taken with the ACS show an intricate spiral arm structure as delineated by dusty lanes, and streams of stars often spotted with hot areas of new star formation.
The ACS has enabled astronomers to detect individual stars, particularly so-called Cepheid variables. These stars change in brightness in a regular way that can be measured to determine their distance.
The Cepheids in NGC 3370 are among the most distant ever detected in space.
Although NGC 3370's spiral arms are dominated by young, blue stars, it is possible to see more distant reddish galaxies shining through the blue arms.
In November 1994, a supernova was detected in one of NGC 3370's arms that became one of the best studied exploding stars.
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