Wednesday, February 24, 2010

A Galaxy Built for Speed!


What would a galaxy look like if it were hurtling through intergalactic space at 600 km?
Well check out NGC 1427A. Weird huh? With that arrow head shape it even looks like it's screaming ahead, hell bent....Well according to the article in IO9, this is why:
  • NGC 1427A looks like it's got a swept-back shape because.... in between galaxies there is an ethereally-thin fog of gas.(That's) enough ... to have an effect on a passing galaxy. The boomerang shape of the galaxy is because that side is facing into the "wind," ... and being compressed. The pink curve in the image is due to rigorous star-formation going on there, where the gas clouds are collapsing from the pressure and birthing stars at a prodigious rate.
Read the complete IO9 article here

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