images

Barred spiral galaxy NGC 2442 in Volans

by

ESO/Novapix

Reference

a-gax24-42006

Date

2011-05-04

NGC 2442 is a barred spiral galaxy about 50 million light years away in the constellation Volans. This picture of the Meathook Galaxy (NGC 2442) was taken by the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at La Silla, Chile. This view includes the whole galaxy and the surrounding sky, and clearly shows the asymmetric spiral arms. The longer of the two arms has intense star formation, which is visible here as a pink glow: this is due to the radiation of young stars ionising the gas they form from. The asymmetric shape and star formation are both thought to be caused by tidal disruptions from a near-miss with another galaxy at some point in its history.