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NASA says massive spiral galaxy is 5 times size of Milky Way
Stellar body known as NGC 6872 now holds the title of being the largest spiral galaxy known to science.
Composite image of the giant barred spiral galaxy NGC 6872
(Credit: NASA)
Most of the big news this week came out of Las Vegas where gadget geeks gathered for the Consumer Electronics Show. But now for some mind-blowing stuff, courtesy of NASA: An international team of astronomers has determined that a stellar system called NGC 6872 is more than five times the size of our Milky Way galaxy and thus holds the title of the biggest spiral galaxy known to science. How big is big? Think about it this way: the spiral galaxy spans more than 522,000 light-years across.
