Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have obtained a remarkable new view of a distant galaxy called NGC 2865.
This image shows the shell elliptical galaxy NGC 2865. Image credit: ESA / Hubble / NASA / Judy Schmidt.
First spotted in 1835 by John Herschel, NGC 2865 is a shell elliptical galaxy located in the constellation of Hydra, approximately 100 million light-years away.
This galaxy is relatively young, with a quickly rotating disc full of infant stars and metal-rich gas.
The main body of the galaxy is typical of early type galaxies, but at fainter light levels NGC 2865 exhibits a peculiar morphology, with many shells, ripples and loops.
The galaxy contains an unusually high number of young stars – suggesting that a galaxy-wide starburst took place around 1.2 billion years ago.
The starburst itself was induced by a merger between a spiral galaxy, similar to our own Milky Way Galaxy, and a larger elliptical galaxy.
The new gas from the spiral galaxy revitalized the dying population of old stars in the elliptical galaxy, and several new generations of stars were born.
The faint halo surrounding the galaxy, visible in the new Hubble image, is also a result of this merger.
Amateur astronomer Judy Schmidt submitted a version of the image to the Hubble’s Hidden Treasures competition.
