Starburst Galaxy NGC 1808
Depicts: NGC 1808, IRAS 05059-3734
Copyright: Jim Flood, an amateur astronomer affiliated with Sperry Observatory at Union College in New Jersey, and Max Mutchler, a member of the Space Telescope Science Institute staff who volunteered to work with Jim
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The ground-based image shows that the galaxy has an unusual, warped
shape. Most spiral galaxies are flat disks, but this one has curls of
dust and gas at its outer spiral arms (upper right-hand corner and lower
left-hand corner). This peculiar shape is evidence that NGC 1808 may
have had a close interaction with another nearby galaxy, NGC 1792, which
is not in the picture Such an interaction could have hurled gas towards
the nucleus of NGC 1808, triggering the exceptionally high rate of star
birth seen in the WFPC2 inset image.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
