Using the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have taken a stunning image of the galaxy ESO 162-17.
This image shows the peculiar galaxy ESO 162-17. Image credit: ESA / Hubble / NASA.
ESO 162-17, also known as LEDA 20531 or 2MASX J07155452-5720363, is a peculiar galaxy – a galaxy that has gone through interactions with its cosmic neighbors, resulting in an unusual amount of dust and gas, an irregular shape, or a strange composition.
The galaxy lies in the constellation Carina, roughly 40 million light-years away from Earth.
In February 2010, a team of astronomers led by Dr Giuliano Pignata of the Universidad Andrés Bello in Chile observed an unusual supernova – known as SN 2010ae – nestled within ESO 162-17.
SN 2010ae belongs to a recently discovered class of supernovae called Type Iax supernovae – a class of objects related to the better known Type-Ia supernovae.
Type Ia supernovae result when a white dwarf accumulates enough mass either from a companion or, rarely, through collision with another white dwarf, to initiate a catastrophic collapse followed by a spectacular explosion as a supernova.
Type Iax supernovae also involve a white dwarf as the central star, but in this case it may survive the event.
These supernovae are much fainter and rarer than Type Ia supernovae, and their exact mechanism is still a matter of open debate.
