Ram pressure is a specific kind of pressure exerted on a body when it moves relative to a fluid. An user-friendly example is the sensation of pressure you experience when you are standing in an intense gust of wind– the wind is a moving fluid, and your body feels pressure from it. An extension of this example is that your body will stay entire and meaningful, however the more loosely bound things– like your hair and your clothing– will flap in the wind. The very same holds true for jellyfish galaxies. They experience ram pressure since of their movement against the intergalactic medium that fills the areas between galaxies in a galaxy cluster. The galaxies experience intense pressure from that movement, and as a result their more loosely bound gas is stripped away. This gas is primarily the colder and denser gas in the galaxy– gas which, when stirred and compressed by the ram pressure, collapses and forms new stars in the jellyfishs beautiful tendrils.
Recommendations:
” UV and Hα HST observations of 6 GASP jellyfish galaxies” by Marco Gullieuszik, Eric Giunchi, Bianca M. Poggianti, Alessia Moretti, Claudia Scarlata, Daniela Calzetti, Ariel Werle, Anita Zanella, Mario Radovich, Callum Bellhouse, Daniela Bettoni, Andrea Franchetto, Jacopo Fritz, Yara L. Jaffé, Sean McGee, Matilde Mingozzi, Alessando Omizzolo, Stephanie Tonnesen, Marc Verheijen and Benedetta Vulcani, 7 March 2023, The Astrophysical Journal.DOI: 10.3847/ 1538-4357/ acb59b.
” HST imaging of star-forming clumps in 6 GASP ram-pressure stripped galaxies” by Eric Giunchi, Marco Gullieuszik, Bianca M. Poggianti, Alessia Moretti, Ariel Werle, Claudia Scarlata, Anita Zanella, Benedetta Vulcani and Daniela Calzetti, The Astrophysical Journal.arXiv:2302.10615.
JO204, a “jellyfish galaxy” positioned 600 million light-years away in the constellation Sextans, includes intense tendrils of gas that look like jellyfish arms. As the galaxies move against the intergalactic medium, their loosely bound gas is removed away, causing the chillier and denser gas to collapse and form new stars in the galaxys tendrils. Here we see JO204, a jellyfish galaxy so called for the intense tendrils of gas that appear in this image to be wandering lazily listed below JO204s intense main bulk. Offered the dreamy look of this image, it would be understandable to wonder why jellyfish galaxies should be such a crucible for star development. They experience ram pressure because of their movement against the intergalactic medium that fills the spaces between galaxies in a galaxy cluster.
JO204, a “jellyfish galaxy” located 600 million light-years away in the constellation Sextans, includes bright tendrils of gas that appear like jellyfish arms. Captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, this image is part of a series of Pictures of the Week highlighting jellyfish galaxies. These galaxies are crucibles for star development due to a huge process called ram pressure stripping. As the galaxies move versus the intergalactic medium, their loosely bound gas is stripped away, triggering the colder and denser gas to collapse and form new stars in the galaxys tendrils. (Cropped view. See full image below.) Credit: ESA/Hubble & & NASA, M. Gullieuszik and the GASP team
The Hubble Space Telescope captured an image of JO204, a “jellyfish galaxy” identified by bright gas tendrils looking like jellyfish arms. These galaxies experience ram pressure removing, which causes their loosely bound gas to collapse and form new stars in their tendrils.
Here we see JO204, a jellyfish galaxy so named for the bright tendrils of gas that appear in this image to be wandering slackly listed below JO204s intense central bulk. The galaxy lies practically 600 million light-years away in the constellation Sextans. This image was recorded by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, and it is the 3rd of a series of Pictures of the Week including jellyfish galaxies. This series of images is possible thanks to a study in which observations were made of 6 of these fascinating galaxies, consisting of JO204. This study was performed with the intent of much better understanding star development under severe conditions.
Hubble Space Telescope image of jellyfish galaxy JO204. Credit: ESA/Hubble & & NASA, M. Gullieuszik and the GASP group
Provided the dreamy look of this image, it would be understandable to question why jellyfish galaxies ought to be such a crucible for star formation. The response is that– as is typically the case with astronomy– very first looks can be tricking. Whilst the delicate ribbons of gas below JO204 may look like floating jellyfish arms, they are in truth the result of an intense huge procedure called ram pressure stripping.
