Cartwheel Galaxy Region
Depicts: The Cartwheel Galaxy, IRAS 00352-3359
Copyright: Curt Struck and Philip Appleton (Iowa State University), Kirk Borne (Hughes STX Corporation), and Ray Lucas (Space Telescope Science Institute), Jim Higdon (Australia Telescope National Facility's Paul Wild Observatory), Victor Blanco (Cerro Tololo)
Located 500 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor, the galaxy (located near the bottom right corner) looks like a wagon wheel. The galaxy's nucleus is the bright object in the center; the spokes are wisps of material connecting the nucleus to the outer ring of young stars. The galaxy's unusual configuration was created by a nearly head-on collision with a smaller galaxy about 200 million years ago.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
