Cartwheel Galaxy

Infobox Galaxy
name = Cartwheel Galaxy


caption = The Cartwheel Galaxy, false color composite.
epoch = J2000
type = S pec (Ring)cite web
title=NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database
work=Results for Cartwheel Galaxy
url=http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/
accessdate=2006-11-25 ]
ra = RA|00|37|41.1
dec = DEC|-33|42|59
dist_ly = 500 Mly [ [http://apod.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010612.html NASA] ]
z = 9050 ± 3 km/s
appmag_v = 15.2
size_v = 1′.1 × 0′.9
constellation name = Sculptor
notes = Ring shape
names = MCG-06-02-022a, PGC 2248

The Cartwheel Galaxy (also known as "ESO 350-40") is a lenticular galaxy about 500 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor. It is about 150,000 light-years across.

The galaxy was once a normal galaxy like the Milky Way before it underwent a head-on collision with a nearby galaxy. When the nearby galaxy passed through the Cartwheel Galaxy, the force of the collision caused a powerful shock wave through the galaxy, like a rock being tossed into a sandbed.

Moving at high speed, the shock wave swept up gas and dust, creating a starburst around the galaxy's center portion that were unscathed. This explains the bluish ring around the center, brighter portion.

External links

* [http://www.seds.org/hst/Cartwheel.html The Cartwheel Galaxy]

References