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Though interesting to look at, NGC 1511 is one\u00a0galaxy\u00a0you might not want for a neighbour. Seen in this ESA\/Hubble\u00a0Picture of the Week, NGC 1511 is a peculiar\u00a0spiral galaxy\u00a0located roughly 50 million light-years away in the constellation\u00a0Hydrus.<\/p>\n
Like many galaxies, NGC 1511 doesn\u2019t travel through space alone. Instead, it does so with a pair of small galactic companions called NGC 1511A and NGC 1511B, both of which lie outside the frame of this Hubble image. NGC 1511B is situated closest to NGC 1511, and the two galaxies have apparently clashed in the past; a narrow strand of hydrogen gas connects them, and NGC 1511B has been stretched and distorted by the encounter. Researchers have even found evidence that NGC 1511 once had another small companion galaxy that it has disrupted entirely!<\/p>\n
These disruptions have an impact on NGC 1511, too. The galaxy is experiencing a burst of\u00a0star\u00a0formation, and its disc features strange loops and plumes that could point to past interactions with its neighbouring galaxies. Researchers will use Hubble\u2019s keen observations of NGC 1511 to study star clusters embedded within its dusty gas, seeking to understand how matter is cycled from interstellar clouds to stars and back to clouds once again.<\/p>\n
[Image Description:<\/i>\u00a0A spiral galaxy, tilted away so that it is seen mostly from the edge. The disc of the galaxy glows blue from its centre, due to younger stars in the spiral arms. There are large and small patches of gas, glowing in red and pink colours, where new stars are forming. Webs of dark dust are spread over the disc. The glow of the disc fades into a dark background, with a couple of stars.]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n