Artist’s impression of a dwarf galaxy undergoing tidal stripping
This illustration shows a dwarf galaxy in the throes of transitioning to an ultra-compact dwarf galaxy as it’s stripped of its outer layers of stars and gas by a nearby larger galaxy. Ultra-compact dwarf galaxies are among the densest stellar groupings in the Universe. Being more compact than other galaxies with similar mass, but larger than star clusters — the objects they most closely resemble — these mystifying objects have defied classification. The missing piece to this puzzle has been a lack of sufficient transitional, or intermediate objects to study. A new galaxy survey, however, fills in these missing pieces to show that many of these enigmatic objects are likely formed from the destruction of dwarf galaxies.
Credit:NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani
About the Image
Id: | noirlab2330a |
Type: | Artwork |
Release date: | Nov. 8, 2023, 9:45 a.m. |
Related releases: | noirlab2330 |
Size: | 5728 x 3196 px |
About the Object
Category: | Illustrations |