Streams of star-forming gas dripping from the disk of a spiral galaxy called JW100 are formed by a process called ram pressure stripping, and their resemblance to dangling tentacles has led astronomers to refer to such objects as jellyfish galaxies.
Early galaxies are dominated by bright clumps, which are larger and more massive than in the local Universe.
The star formation activity is strongly influenced and can be even halted by a number of processes, some of which are directly related to the environment in which the galaxy resides.
Ram pressure stripping, i.e. the removal of interstellar gas from the disk of star forming galaxies due to the hydrodynamical interaction with the hot intergalactic medium, is one such process and it is believed to have a strong impact on galaxy populations in dense environments such as galaxy groups and, especially, clusters.
“Ram pressure stripping occurs when galaxies encounter the diffuse gas that pervades galaxy clusters,” Hubble astronomers said in a statement.
“As galaxies plough through this tenuous gas it acts like a headwind, stripping gas and dust from the galaxy and creating the trailing streamers that prominently adorn JW100.”
JW100 is located approximately 800 million light-years away in the constellation of Pegasus.
This galaxy is a member of the large galaxy cluster Abell 2626 (A2626).
“The bright elliptical patches in this image are other galaxies in Abell 2626,” the astronomers said.
“As well as JW100’s bright tendrils, the image also contains a remarkably bright area of diffuse light towards the top of this image which contains two bright blotches at its core.”
“This is the core of IC 5338, the brightest galaxy in Abell 2626, known as a cD galaxy.”
“It’s not unusual for cD galaxies to exhibit multiple nuclei, as they are thought to grow by consuming smaller galaxies, the nuclei of which can take a long time to be absorbed.”
“The bright points of light studding its outer fringes…
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