Astronomers Discover Nearby Spiral Galaxy Hidden Behind the Milky Way

This visual light image of a newly discovered galaxy called "Dwingeloo 1," was taken with the Isaac Newton Telescope on La Palma in the Canary Islands (Administered by the Royal Greenwich Observatory, United Kingdom).

Though only ten million light-years away (or five times the distance of the Andromeda galaxy - closest city of stars to our Milky Way Galaxy), this newly discovered collection of more than 100 billion stars has gone undetected previously because it is hidden from view behind our Milky Way galaxy. It probably belongs to a nearby group of galaxies that include two named Maffei 1 and 2.