Abell 3627: A giant cluster of galaxies about 220 million light years
from Earth with galaxy ESO 137-001 plunging into it.
Caption: This composite image shows a tail that has been created as the
galaxy ESO 137-001 plunges into the galaxy cluster Abell 3627. X-rays
from Chandra (blue) and optical light (white and red) from the SOAR
telescope show that as the galaxy plummets, it sheds material and is
forming stars behind it in a tail that stretches over 200,000 light
years long. This result demonstrates that stars can form well outside
of their parent galaxy.
Scale: Image is 2.8 arcmin across.
Chandra X-ray Observatory ACIS Image
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