MUSE view of the ram-pressure stripped galaxy ESO 137-001
The MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope has provided researchers with the best view yet of a spectacular cosmic crash. Observations reveal for the first time the motion of gas as it is ripped out of the galaxy ESO 137-001 as it ploughs at high speed into a vast galaxy cluster. The results are the key to the solution of a long-standing mystery — why star formation switches off in galaxy clusters.
In this picture the colours show the motions of the gas filaments — red means the material is moving away from Earth compared to the galaxy and blue that it is approaching.
Note that the upper-left and lower-right parts of this picture have been filled in using the Hubble image of this object.
Credit:ESO/M. Fumagalli
About the Image
Id: | eso1437a |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | 10 November 2014, 01:01 |
Related releases: | eso1437 |
Size: | 616 x 590 px |
About the Object
Name: | ESO 137-001 |
Type: | Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting |
Distance: | 200 million light years |
Constellation: | Triangulum Australe |
Category: | Galaxies |
Coordinates
Position (RA): | 16 13 22.20 |
Position (Dec): | -60° 45' 15.24" |
Field of view: | 2.06 x 1.97 arcminutes |
Orientation: | North is 0.0° right of vertical |
Colours & filters
Band | Telescope |
---|---|
Optical | Very Large Telescope MUSE |