The Hubble astronomers have released an absolutely beautiful photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the jellyfish galaxy JO206.
Jellyfish galaxies are so-called because of their resemblance to their aquatic namesakes.
The tendrils of jellyfish galaxies are formed by the interaction between galaxies and the intracluster medium, a tenuous superheated plasma that pervades galaxy clusters.
As galaxies move through galaxy clusters they ram into the intracluster medium, which strips gas from the galaxies and draws it into the long tendrils of star formation.
The tentacles of jellyfish galaxies give astronomers a unique opportunity to study star formation under extreme conditions, far from the influence of the main disk of the galaxy.
“Understanding the physical conditions that lead to the formation of new stars, and conversely to the halting of the star formation activity, is central for astrophysics,” said Dr. Marco Gullieuszik from the INAF-Osservatorio astronomico di Padova and colleagues.
“Galaxy disks are the usual cradle for star formation. This is a hierarchical process traced by star-forming regions, dubbed clumps, which are ubiquitous in star-forming galaxies.”
“Extremely distant 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.”
“This process is believed to have a strong impact on galaxy populations in dense environments such as galaxy groups and, especially, clusters.”
Dr. Gullieuszik and co-authors used Hubble to study star-forming clumps in JO206, a jellyfish galaxy located over 700…
Read the full article here