The upward-facing spiral galaxy IC5332, located in the constellation Sculptor, is a SABC-type galaxy with weak bar-like features and loose curled arms. This shimmering Hubble Space Telescope image shows spiral galaxy IC 5332, located about 30 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor and almost face-to-face with Earth.

This stunning Hubble Space Telescope image captures spiral galaxy IC5332. It is located 30 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor, facing Earth. When a galaxy is circular from our perspective, it is said to be "face-on", while an elliptical shape means "side-on". Image credit: ESA/Hubble and NASA, R.Chandar, J.Lee and the PHANGS-HST team

To explain what "face-on" means, we can think of a spiral galaxy as an (extremely) huge disk. If the galaxy's orientation is circular from our perspective on Earth, then we can say that it is "facing Earth." On the contrary, if the galaxy is oriented as a squashed ellipse, then we can say that it is "edge-up".

This upward-facing spiral galaxy, called NGC 3982, is notable for its rich star formation and sinuous arms. Image source: NASA

Crucially, the appearance of the same galaxy from our perspective is extremely different, depending on whether it is viewed head-on or side-on from Earth. You can learn about another right-side-up spiral galaxy (pictured above) and an almost edge-up spiral galaxy (pictured below) here.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning image of the universe's elegant Sombrero Galaxy, also known as Messier 104 Galaxy (M104). What makes this galaxy unique is its bright white core, which is surrounded by thick dust that forms a spiral shape. From Earth, we see the galaxy almost sideways, just six degrees north of its equatorial plane. Its unique appearance is reminiscent of a Mexican hat with a wide brim and high top, hence the name "Sombrero". Source: NASA and Hubble Legacy Group (STScI/AURA)

IC5332 is classified as a SABC type galaxy in the DeVaucouleurs galaxy classification system. S" simply means that it is a spiral galaxy, and it is obvious that it is a spiral galaxy because of the well-defined bright star arms and darker dust arms that curl outward from the dense and bright core of the galaxy. "AB" is a little more complicated. AB" means that the galaxy has a weak strip shape and refers to the shape of the center of the galaxy.

Most spiral galaxies do not spiral out from a point, but from an elongated bar-like structure. The cores of SAB galaxies - also known as intermediate spiral galaxies - don't have obvious bars, but they don't spiral out from a point, but somewhere in between. The lowercase "c" indicates the tightness of the spiral arms: a" means very tightly wound, and "d" means very loosely wound. Therefore, IC5332 is in many ways an intermediate type of spiral galaxy: the fence is weak, the arms are loosely wound, and they face almost completely upward.