This is an excellent example of the subtype dubbed Sc(s) in the de Vaucouleurs extension of Hubble's galaxy classification, in which the arms arise in a spiralling pattern from the nuclear region itself rather than from a surrounding ring. I heartily recommend viewing the Gemini-North image to appreciate the wonderful structure of NGC 628. This image was taken on June 20, 2003, when the type II supernova 2003gd was bright; that's it almost due south of the nucleus in the bright spiral arm 2/3 of the way to the bottom of the image. It becomes clear on comparison with the color-composite BVR image below, which was done with the 1-meter SARA telescope on Kitt Peak during the 2013 Live Astronomy event at DragonCon.
I tried this one on two successive nights from the Lowell Observatory 1.1-m, with the comparison giving a good example of average versus poor atmospheric seeing.
Last changes: 9/2018 © 2001-2018