The Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced this beautiful image of the galaxy ESO 381-12.
This Hubble image shows the galaxy ESO 381-12. The strikingly uneven structure and the clusters of stars that orbit around the galaxy suggest that ESO 381-12 may have been part of a dramatic collision sometime in its relatively recent past. Image credit: NASA / ESA / P. Goudfrooij, STScI.
ESO 381-12, also known as LEDA 42871, is located in the constellation Centaurus, approximately 270 million light-years away from Earth.
It’s a lenticular galaxy – a hybrid galaxy type that shares properties with both spiral galaxies and elliptical galaxies.
The delicate shells that bloom outwards from the galaxy are very rarely found around lenticular galaxies and their cause is a bit of a cosmic mystery.
It is thought that ESO 381-12 may have recently interacted with another galaxy, sending shock waves through its structure much like ripples in a pond.
These galactic mergers are violent processes, smashing together material within the clashing galaxies and completely changing how they look and how they will evolve in the future.
This event likely triggered a wave of star formation throughout the galaxy, leading to the creation of many infant stars.
