AP PROVIDES ACCESS TO THIS PUBLICLY DISTRIBUTED HANDOUT PHOTO PROVIDED BY NASA; MANDATORY CREDIT
This image made available by NASA shows the Whirlpool galaxy, which is actually a pair of galaxies Messier 51 and NGC 5194/5195, approximately 23 million light-years away from Earth. This image shows a view in visible light, from the Kitt Peak National Observatory telescope as part of the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS) project. (NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP)