Well , if we ’re being technical , this galaxy in reality withdraw its nickname from another cetacean mammal . Once a coiling galaxy much like our own , NGC 2936 was twisted all out of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe by its behemoth neighbour . The result ? One of the more endearing galaxies in the Water Snake configuration .
This galaxy is another example of our quondam friendpareidoliain natural process . I realize this goes without saying , but this is n’t actually a elephantine cosmic porpoise , but it ’s interesting to see where the resemblance is closest . While the far left of the wandflower does rather resemble a back fin , there ’s no dorsal fin to speak of , and you have to be feeling pretty generous to reckon that little blue lead on the bottom right as a flipper . The genuine key to the fancy is that bright , blockheaded blue bow on top , which really does seem to trace out the cetacean ’s chassis . And , of track , the shape would probably be unrecognizable to us if it did n’t encounter to resemble a dolphin or porpoise diving into the water — we probably would n’t note upon a galaxy that vaguely looked like a dolphin at ease , for instance .
But leaving aside the psychology of its shape , how precisely did this beetleweed stop up with such an unusual construction ? NASA explains :
Just a few hundred million years ago , NGC 2936 , the upper of the two bombastic wandflower show , was likely a normal volute galaxy — spinning , create stars — and mind its own business sector . But then it set out too close to the massive elliptical galaxy NGC 2937 below and took a dive . dub the Porpoise Galaxy for its iconic form , NGC 2936 is not only being head off but also being warp by the near gravitative interaction . A burst of untried blue stars forms the nose of the porpoise toward the left of the upper galaxy , while the nerve center of the spiral appears as an eye . instead , the galaxy duad , together known as Arp 142 , search to some like a penguin protecting an egg . Either way , intricate blue dust lane and shiny blue star streams dog the troubled coltsfoot to the lower right . In a billion years or so the two galaxies will probably merge into one larger galaxy .
ViaNASA APOD . Image Credit : NASA , ESA , andThe Hubble Heritage Team(STSci / air ) .
AstronomyDolphinNASAPareidoliaScienceSpace
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