‘Point of view is everything,’ says this Instagram post by NASA. Seen it yet?

The galaxy photographed in this post is 50,000 light-years across from us.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) official Instagram account is filled with mesmerising pictures of space that usually excite, astound, and inform netizens-often all at once. This image showing Galaxy NGC 2188 from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope is no different and gives everyone an important message about how “Point of view is everything”.

The image shows Galaxy NGC 2188 from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. (Instagram/@nasa)

This post was shared from NASA’s official Instagram account on September 7. The caption, credited to the European space agency, details information about the picture. It starts by saying, “Point of view is everything. Galaxy NGC 2188 is a barred spiral, but as this @NASAHubble Space Telescope image shows, only its very narrow outer edge is visible to us on Earth. The center and spiral arms of the galaxy are tilted away from us, with only the very narrow outer edge of the galaxy’s disk visible to us”. The text further explains, “Astronomers liken this occurrence to turning a dinner plate in your hands so you see only its outer edge. The true shape of the galaxy was identified by studying the distribution of the stars in the inner central bulge and outer disk and by observing the stars’ colors”.

Since being shared on the photo and video sharing platform, this post has accumulated over one million likes and many appreciative comments.

Here is what netizens had to say about the share. One person said, “Astounding imagery! Thank you, NASA”.

Another individual wrote, “Magic in the skies”. “This is absolutely magical,” read one comment under the post, and we cannot say we disagree.

What are your thoughts on the image of this astronomical object which is 50,000 light-years across from us?