The resemblance of the streams below the galaxy to the long limbs of jellyfish has led astronomers to refer to JW100 as the “Jellyfish Galaxy”.
The dangling lines are formed through a process called ram pressure stripping, according to a statement from the US space agency, NASA.
Push-pressure denudation occurs when galaxies encounter the diffuse gas that pervades galaxy clusters.
As the galaxies plow through this feeble gas, it acts like a headwind, stripping gas and dust from the galaxy and creating the trailing signals that so prominently decorate JW100.
The bright elliptical spots in the image are other galaxies in the cluster that hosts JW100.
Surrounded by a remarkably bright region of scattered light, at the top of this image are two bright spots. This is the core of IC 5338, the brightest galaxy in the cluster.
It is noteworthy that IC 5338 is an elliptical galaxy with an extended halo, which is a type of galaxy called a cD galaxy.
These galaxies are likely to grow by consuming smaller galaxies, so it is not surprising that they have multiple nuclei as it can take a long time to absorb their nuclei.
The bright points of light dotting the outer fringes of the galaxy are a rich collection of globular star clusters.
The observation was made by scientists with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 and the data is part of a series of observations designed to explore star formation in the tendrils of jellyfish galaxies.
This tendril represents star formation under extreme conditions and could help astronomers better understand the process of star formation elsewhere in the universe.
