Tattered Spiral Galaxy ESO 137-001

ESO 137-001 is a barred spiral galaxy discovered in 2005 and located in the southern constellation Triangulum Australe. It is part of a galaxy cluster known as Abell 3627 (alternately, the Norma Cluster). It is moving at an incredibly high rate — nearly 4.5 million miles per hour — toward the center of the cluster. As the galaxy moves toward the center of the cluster, it is experiencing a phenomenon that astronomers call “ram pressure stripping” that is pushing the galaxy’s gas behind it into a 260,000-light-year-long tail. There is actually evidence of star formation in this long, trailing streamer. The brown, smoky region near the center of the spiral is being pushed in a similar manner, although in this case it is small dust particles, and not gas, that are being dragged backwards by the intra-cluster medium.