ESA Hubble Photo Release | 2016 June 28
[img3="Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Elmegreen (Vassar College), B. Elmegreen (IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center), J. Almeida, C. Munoz-Tunon, and M. Filho (Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias), J. Mendez-Abreu (University of St. Andrews), J. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin-Madison), M. Rafelski (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), and D. Ceverino (Center for Astronomy at Heidelberg University)"]https://cdn.spacetelescope.org/archives ... c1612a.jpg[/img3][hr][/hr]This new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a cosmic tadpole, with its bright head and elongated tail, wriggling through the inky black pool of space. Tadpole galaxies are rare and difficult to find in the local Universe. This striking example, named LEDA 36252, was explored as part of a Hubble study into their mysterious properties — with interesting results.
The Universe is a swirling pool of galaxies moving through the emptiness of space. Whilst spiral galaxies and ellipticals are the two main galaxy types in the Universe, there are also other, odder types — as shown in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3).
The galaxy LEDA 36252 — also known as Kiso 5639 — is an example of what is known as a tadpole galaxy because of their bright, compact heads and elongated tails. Tadpole galaxies are unusual, and rare in the local Universe — in a sample of 10 000 galaxies within the local Universe, only 20 would be tadpoles — but they are more common in the early Universe.
This image of LEDA 36252 was obtained as part of a scientific study into the galaxy’s properties. It is an ideal cosmic laboratory for astronomers to study the accretion of cosmic gas, starburst activity, and the formation of globular star clusters.
The stars in tadpole galaxies are generally very old — living fossils from the early Universe and from the time when these galaxies formed. LEDA 36252 is in general no exception to that. ...
Hubble Reveals Stellar Fireworks in 'Skyrocket' Galaxy
NASA | STScI | AURA | HubbleSite | 2016 June 28
[img3="Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Elmegreen (Vassar College), B. Elmegreen (IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center), J. Sánchez Almeida, C. Munoz-Tunon, and M. Filho (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias), J. Mendez-Abreu (University of St. Andrews), J. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin-Madison), M. Rafelski (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), and D. Ceverino (Center for Astronomy at Heidelberg University)"]http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/imag ... ge_web.jpg[/img3][hr][/hr]Fireworks shows are not just confined to Earth's skies. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured a spectacular fireworks display in a small, nearby galaxy, which resembles a July 4th skyrocket.
A firestorm of star birth is lighting up one end of the diminutive galaxy Kiso 5639. The dwarf galaxy is shaped like a flattened pancake, but because it is tilted edge-on, it resembles a skyrocket, with a brilliant blazing head and a long, star-studded tail.
Kiso 5639 is a rare, nearby example of elongated galaxies that occur in abundance at larger distances, where we observe the universe during earlier epochs. Astronomers suggest that the frenzied star birth is sparked by intergalactic gas raining on one end of the galaxy as it drifts through space. ...
Observations of the early universe, such as Hubble's Ultra Deep Field, reveal that about 10 percent of all galaxies have these elongated shapes, and are collectively called "tadpoles." But studies of the nearby universe have turned up only a few of these unusual galaxies, including Kiso 5639. The development of the nearby star-making tadpole galaxies, however, has lagged behind that of their peers, which have spent billions of years building themselves up into many of the spiral galaxies seen today. ...
Hubble Reveals Stellar Fireworks in "Skyrocket" Galaxy
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) | 2016 June 28
Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Accretion-Induced Star Formation
in the Tadpole Galaxy Kiso 5639 - Debra Meloy Elmegreen et al
- arXiv.org > astro-ph > arXiv:1605.02822 > 10 May 2016
