Friday, March 9, 2007

The Jellyfish Galaxy!

Monday's APOD is cool: a galaxy being ripped to shreds as it falls into a galaxy cluster.

Serious comment: The paper claims that as the galaxy flies through the cluster medium, its gas gets stripped out, shock-compressed, and then forms stars.

Silly comment: See all those star--forming tendrils! I think we should call it the Jellyfish Galaxy.

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