Hubble Space Telescope of the jellyfish galaxy JW39, situated more than 900 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. In spite of its peaceful exterior, JW39 lies within a rough galaxy cluster, wherein galaxies are often distorted due to gravitational pulls from larger neighboring galaxies. (Cropped image to reveal detail.) Credit: ESA/Hubble & & NASA, M. Gullieuszik and the GASP team
The Jellyfish galaxy JW39, situated in a hostile galaxy cluster, is exposed to extreme gravitational forces and a hot plasma referred to as the intracluster medium. These conditions strip JW39 of its star-forming gas, developing trailing ribbons of star development. Research study shows that star formation in these tentacles mirrors that in the main galaxy disc.
The jellyfish galaxy JW39 hangs serenely in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This galaxy lies over 900 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices, and is one of several jellyfish galaxies that Hubble has been studying over the previous 2 years.
Despite this jellyfish galaxys peaceful look, it is adrift in a ferociously hostile environment; a galaxy cluster. Compared to their more isolated counterparts, the galaxies in galaxy clusters are frequently distorted by the gravitational pull of bigger next-door neighbors, which can twist galaxies into a range of strange and fantastic shapes. The area in between galaxies in a cluster is likewise pervaded with a searingly hot plasma known as the intracluster medium if that was not enough. While this plasma is extremely tenuous, galaxies moving through it experience it practically like swimmers combating against an existing, and this interaction can strip galaxies of their star-forming gas.
Despite its peaceful exterior, JW39 is located within a turbulent galaxy cluster, wherein galaxies are typically distorted due to gravitational pulls from larger neighboring galaxies. The Jellyfish galaxy JW39, situated in a hostile galaxy cluster, is exposed to extreme gravitational forces and a hot plasma known as the intracluster medium. Compared to their more separated counterparts, the galaxies in galaxy clusters are typically distorted by the gravitational pull of larger next-door neighbors, which can twist galaxies into a range of weird and wonderful shapes.
Hubble Space Telescope of the jellyfish galaxy JW39. (Full image to show context.) Credit: ESA/Hubble & & NASA, M. Gullieuszik and the GASP team
This interaction between the intracluster medium and the galaxies is called ram-pressure removing, and is the procedure accountable for the tracking tendrils of this jellyfish galaxy. As JW39 has moved through the cluster the pressure of the intracluster medium has stripped away gas and dust into long routing ribbons of star formation that now stretch away from the disc of the galaxy.
Astronomers utilizing Hubbles Wide Field Camera 3 studied these tracking tendrils in detail, as they are a particularly severe environment for star formation. Remarkably, they found that star development in the tentacles of jellyfish galaxies was not visibly different from star formation in the galaxy disc.