Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
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 centre. These structures are common throughout the Universe, and are found within the majority of spiral, many irregular, and some lenticular galaxies. Two of our closest cosmic neighbours, 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.
Something similar might be happening with IC 3583. This small galaxy is
thought to be gravitationally interacting with one of its neighbours,
the spiral Messier 90.
Together, the duo form a pairing known as Arp 76. It’s still unclear
whether these flirtations are the cause of IC 3583’s irregular
appearance — but whatever the cause, the galaxy makes for a strikingly
delicate sight in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image, glimmering
in the blackness of space.
