A dramatic image of a giant Milky Way 'clone' has been captured by astronomers.
The bird's eye view of NGC 6744 gives a good idea of what our own galaxy would look like to a passing space traveller.
The spiral galaxy is around 30million light years away in the southern constellation of Pavo, the Peacock.
Distant lookalike: NGC 6744, a large spiral galaxy, is just like a picture postcard of our own Milky Way sent from extragalactic space
In the new image from European Southern Observatory astronomers, it is seen almost face-on, so that the striking spiral arms are clearly visible.
NGC 6744 would almost be an identical twin of the Milky Way were it not for its size.
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