... Well within our own Milky Way galaxy, the cosmic sphere is roughly 7,000 light-years distant toward the constellation Hercules. America Returns to Space Flight . ... Unusual Gas Filaments Surround Galaxy NGC 1275 . ... No one is sure. Galaxy NGC 1275 is the central dominant galaxy of the Perseus Cluster of Galaxies, a cluster with many member galaxies visible in the above image. In visible light, NGC 1275 appears to show a spectacular collision between two distinct galaxies. ...