Hubble captures a wonky galaxy being pulled out of shape

By Georgina Torbet May 29, 2021

This spectacular image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the trailing arms of NGC 2276, a spiral galaxy 120 million light-years away in the constellation of Cepheus. At first glance, the delicate tracery of bright spiral arms and dark dust lanes resembles countless other spiral galaxies. A closer look reveals a strangely lopsided galaxy shaped by gravitational interaction and intense star formation. — This spectacular image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the trailing arms of NGC 2276, a spiral galaxy 120 million light-years away in the constellation of Cepheus. At first glance, the delicate tracery of bright spiral arms and dark dust lanes resembles countless other spiral galaxies. A closer look reveals a strangely lopsided galaxy shaped by gravitational interaction and intense star formation. ESA/Hubble & NASA, P. Sell Acknowledgement: L. Shatz

Most spiral galaxies, like our own Milky Way, tend to be symmetrical. However, sometimes a dramatic event can happen to a galaxy and pull it into an asymmetric shape, like what is happening to the galaxy NGC 2276 in the constellation of Cepheus. This galaxy was recently imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope, and though it might look like a typical spiral galaxy if you look at it quickly, on closer inspection you can see that it has an unusually wonky shape.

There are in fact two oddities about this particular galaxy, which are caused by two different types of interaction. In the top right of the image, you can see that one of the spiral arms seems to be peeling away from the main body of the galaxy. This is due to a nearby companion galaxy, NCG 2300. This companion galaxy is exerting a gravitational pull on NCG 2276 and has twisted it out of shape. In fact, it has twisted the galaxy so much that it appears to be face-on to us on Earth, but in fact, the galaxy faces away at an angle.

The other oddity is on the left-hand side of the image. You can see that there are many more blue areas in this region than in the rest of the galaxy. These blue regions are areas of star formation, where new, young stars grow brightly. This star formation is particularly intense in this area due to the galaxy’s interaction with the hot gas which lies between galaxy clusters, called the intracluster medium.

Although we usually think of the space between galaxies as being empty nothingness, in fact, there can be gases such as hydrogen and helium there and even heavier elements such as iron. When it comes close to a galaxy like NCG 2276, this matter can become clumped together under the force of gravity, where it provides material for new stars.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Georgina Torbet

Space Writer

Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She…

Space

Hubble captures an exceptionally luminous supernova site

This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image is of the small galaxy known as UGC 5189A.

This week's image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the aftermath of an epic explosion in space caused by the death of a massive star.

Some of the most dramatic events in the cosmos are supernovas, when a massive star runs out of fuel to fuse -- first running out of hydrogen, then helium, then burning through heavier elements -- and eventually can no longer sustain the outward pressure from heat caused by this fusion. When that happens, the star collapses suddenly into a dense core, and its outer layers are thrown off in a tremendous explosion called a Type II supernova.

Space

Hubble images a pair of galaxies caught in the process of merging

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features Arp 122, a peculiar galaxy that in fact comprises two galaxies – NGC 6040, the tilted, warped spiral galaxy and LEDA 59642, the round, face-on spiral – that are in the midst of a collision.

After last week's image of the week from the Hubble Space Telescope showed a cluster of galaxies that appeared to be very close to each other but actually weren't, this week's image shows two images that are practically on top of each other. The two galaxies shown in the image below, NGC 6040 and LEDA 59642, are so close that they are interacting and have a shared name as a pair, Arp 122.

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features Arp 122, a peculiar galaxy that in fact comprises two galaxies – NGC 6040, the tilted, warped spiral galaxy and LEDA 59642, the round, face-on spiral – that are in the midst of a collision. ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Dalcanton, Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Acknowledgement: L. Shatz

Space

Hubble captures a busy frame of four overlapping spiral galaxies

This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features a richness of spiral galaxies.

This week's image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a host of galaxies overlapping in a complex swirl. Four main galaxies are shown in the image, three of which look like they are practically on top of each other, but all is not as it appears in this case.

The largest galaxy in the image, located on the right, is NGC 1356, an elegant barred spiral galaxy similar to our Milky Way. It is also known as the Great Barred Spiral Galaxy due to the prominent nature of its bar, which is a bright structure at the center of the galaxy which is rich with stars. Near this galaxy appear two smaller spiral galaxies, LEDA 467699 and LEDA 95415, and off on the left side of the image is IC 1947.