By ESA/Hubble
August 9, 2020
NGC 1614, an eccentrically-shaped galaxy ablaze with activity, recorded here by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: ESA/Hubble & & NASA, A. Adamo
Owing to its unstable past and its existing look, astronomers categorize NGC 1614 as a peculiar galaxy, a starburst galaxy, and a luminous infrared galaxy. Luminescent infrared galaxies are amongst the most luminescent objects in the local Universe– and NGC 1614 is, in fact, the second most luminous galaxy within 250 million light-years.
NGC 1614 is the outcome of a previous galactic merger that developed its strange appearance. The cosmic collision likewise drove an unstable flow of interstellar gas from the smaller of the 2 galaxies involved into the nucleus of the bigger one, leading to a burst of star development which began in the core and gradually spread out outwards through the galaxy.
NGC 1614, recorded here by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, is an eccentrically-shaped galaxy ablaze with activity. The galaxy resides about 200 million light-years from Earth and is nestled in the southern constellation of Eridanus (The River).
