Researchers witnessed an extraterrestrial murder; a Hubble image reveals the moment when a galaxy cluster ripped a spiral galaxy apart limb-from-limb.
The image shows spiral galaxy ESO 137-001 moving through the center of galaxy cluster Abell 3627, the bright streaks behind it are its "entrails" that are being violently ripped into space, a Hubble news release reported.
ESO 137-001 is located in the Triangulum Australe. The image shows this galaxy in stunning detail against a backdrop with bright blue streaks streaming outward. These streaks are "hot young stars, encased in wispy streams of gas that are being torn away from the galaxy by its surroundings as it moves through space," the news release reported.
This even is caused by a process called ram power stripping, which is "a drag force felt by an object moving through a fluid," the news release reported.
The fluid that fuels this process superheated gas hidden in the center of the galaxy clusters. Other features of the image give away the process as well: the curve of the dust and gas disc is caused by the heated gas. The drag of the cluster is strong enough to bend ESO 137-001, even though in the majority of the galaxy it is able to hold onto its dust.
"Studying ram pressure stripping helps astronomers to better understand the mechanisms that drive the evolution of galaxies. For example, it will leave this galaxy with very little of the cold gas that is essential for star formation, rendering the galaxy effectively incapable of forming new stars," the news release reported.
ESO 137-001 is a member of the Norma Cluster, which is located in a part of space called the "great attractor." This region is so massive that its gravitational pull is sucking in other galaxy clusters in. The Hubble telescope was able to peer through the dust and catch a glimpse of the phenomenon,
