The Porpoise Galaxy from
Hubble
From
NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
What's happening to this
spiral galaxy? Just a few hundred million years ago, NGC 2936, the upper of the
two large galaxies
shown, was likely a normal
spiral galaxy -- spinning, creating stars -- and minding its own
business.
But then it got too
close to the massive
elliptical galaxy NGC 2937 below and took a dive. Dubbed the Porpoise Galaxy for its
iconic shape, NGC 2936 is not only being deflected but also being distorted by
the close gravitational
interaction.
A burst of young blue
stars forms the nose of the porpoise toward the left of the upper galaxy, while
the center of the spiral appears as an eye.
Alternatively, the
galaxy pair, together known as Arp 142, look to
some like a penguin protecting
an egg. Either way, intricate dark dust lanes and bright blue star streams
trail the troubled galaxy to the lower right.
The recently-released
image showing Arp 142 in
unprecedented detail was taken by the Hubble
Space Telescope last year.
Arp 142 lies
about 300 million light years away toward the constellation, coincidently, of
the Water Snake (Hydra).
In a billion years or so the two galaxies will likely merge into one larger
galaxy.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STSci/AURA)
