A photo of the Messier 51, also called the Whirlpool Galaxy, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1992 is making rounds among conspiracy theorists.
Some are claiming that the photo, which shows a dark "x" structure at the core of the spiral galaxy, is some kind of gateway to another world.
The image recently reappeared on the popular conspiracy website Disclose.tv where some have taken the curious structure as a sign of the existence of heaven. Some theorize that the "crucifix" in the middle of the galaxy might be the gates of heaven.
"This is surely a sign that God exists and he is showing us that heaven resides with the very center of our galaxy," one anonymous commenter wrote.
Another poster suggested that the "x" structure might be the light that people must follow when they die in order to reach heaven.
The Whirlpool Galaxy's 'X' Structure
However, there is nothing mystical about the Whirlpool Galaxy. According to NASA, the "x" silhouette in the middle of the spiral galaxy was created by dust being absorbed by a massive black hole that has the mass equivalent to about 1 million suns.
The darkest bar might be "an edge-on torus that determines the axis of the of a jet of high-speed plasma and confines radiation from the accretion disk to a pair of oppositely directed cones of light, which ionize gas caught in their beam." Meanwhile, the second bar could either be another disk seen edge on or "rotating gas and dust in MS1 intersecting with the jets and ionization cones."
The Whirlpool Galaxy is located in the constellation Canes Venatici about 31 million light-years away from Earth. It is considered one of the brightest and most picturesque galaxies that can be viewed from the ground with a small telescope.
M51 was first discovered by astronomer Charles Messier in 1773.
Gate Of Heaven And Other Conspiracy Theories
The photo of the "x" structure at the core of the Whirlpool Galaxy reappear every other year as evidence of the existence of God. However, it is not the only photo from the Hubble Space Telescope that has become the subject of conspiracy theories.
In 2016, a photo of the Swan Nebula made rounds and some people believe that it might be the "gates of heaven." However, Snopes confirmed that the photo was edited.
