JO201 : Jellyfish Galaxy
The Hubble Space Telescope recently captured an image of JO201, a jellyfish galaxy in the Abell 85 galaxy cluster.
- JO201 is a jellyfish galaxy which lies in Abell 85 galaxy cluster.
- It is at a distance of about 700 million lightyears, in the constellation of Cetus or the Whale.
- Jellyfish galaxies are a type of galaxy that exhibit long “tentacles” or “tails” of gas, dust, and stars that appear to be streaming away from the galaxy’s main body.
- These tentacles are formed as the galaxy moves rapidly through the hot gas of a galaxy cluster, causing the gas to strip away from the galaxy and form a tail. This process is called ram-pressure stripping.
- The tendrils of jellyfish galaxies extend beyond the bright disc of the galaxy’s core.
- Galaxy clusters are the largest objects in the universe that are held together by their own gravity.
- They contain hundreds or thousands of galaxies, lots of hot plasma, and a large amount of invisible dark matter.
