Irregular Galaxy IC 3583 in Virgo | Hubble Space Telescope

Irregular Galaxy IC 3583 in Virgo | Hubble Space Telescope

This delicate blue group of stars—actually an irregular galaxy named IC 3583—sits some 30 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo (The Virgin).

It may seem to have no discernable structure, but IC 3583 has been found to have a bar of stars running through its center. These structures are common throughout the Universe, and are found within the majority of spiral, many irregular, and in lenticular galaxies. Two of our closest cosmic neighbors, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, are barred, indicating that they may have once been barred spiral galaxies that were disrupted or torn apart by the gravitational pull of the Milky Way.

This might be happening with IC 3583. It is thought to be gravitationally interacting with one of its neighbors, spiral galaxy Messier 90. Together, the duo form a pairing known as Arp 76. It is unclear whether these effects are the cause of IC 3583’s irregular appearance—but whatever the cause, the galaxy makes for a strikingly delicate sight in this NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope image, glimmering in the blackness of space.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Release Date: Nov. 28, 2016

#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #IC3583 #IrregularGalaxy #InteractingGalaxies #Messier90 #Arp76 #Virgo #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education