Hubble sees a cosmic jellyfish adrift in ferociously hostile environment

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured this celestial beauty - a jellyfish galaxy JW39 that lies over 900 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. It is one of several jellyfish galaxies that have captured the telescope has been studying over the past two years.

The breathtaking image reveals the serene nature of the jellyfish galaxy, belied by its tumultuous surroundings. The galaxy is adrift in a ferociously hostile environment - a galaxy cluster. In contrast to their more secluded counterparts, galaxies within these clusters often endure gravitational forces exerted by their larger neighbours, resulting in the twisting and contortion of their shapes.

As if these challenges weren't enough, the intergalactic voids within galaxy clusters are permeated by an intensely hot plasma, known as the intracluster medium. Although this plasma is exceedingly sparse, galaxies traversing through it struggle against its presence, akin to swimmers battling against a relentless current. This interaction can forcibly strip galaxies of their star-forming gas.

The phenomenon at play here is known as ram-pressure stripping - the interaction between the galaxies and the intracluster medium. It is this very process that is responsible for the captivating trailing tendrils exhibited by the jellyfish galaxy. As JW39 continues its journey through the galaxy cluster, the pressure exerted by the intracluster medium forcefully strips away the galaxy's gas and dust, resulting in the formation of elongated ribbons of intense star formation, which are gracefully extending outward from the galactic disc in this Hubble image.

Astronomers used Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 to conduct a detailed study of the trailing tendrils as they present a uniquely extreme environment for star formation. They found that star formation within the "tentacles" of jellyfish galaxies did not exhibit any notable differences when compared to star formation occurring within the galactic disc itself.

📷This NASA/ESA @HUBBLE_space telescope image depicts JW39, a jellyfish galaxy.Jellyfish galaxies are distinguished by their trailing tendrils caused by the gravitational pull of larger galaxy clusters nearby. 🔗https://t.co/5KdP1SqWET pic.twitter.com/QGEPUXdM3S

— ESA (@esa) May 22, 2023