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A spiral galaxy that is partially cut off on the left side. Orange-brown dust swirls around a glowing core, and thick swirls of blue-white stars interlaced with red-brown dust swirls out from the center, off the left side of the image, up to the top, and then all the way down to the bottom. On the right half of the image, the black backdrop of space is dotted with stars and galaxies of various colors.

Cosmic Fireworks

This image features the spectacular galaxy NGC 2442, nicknamed the Meathook Galaxy due to its extremely asymmetrical and irregular shape. This galaxy was host to a supernova explosion, known as SN2015F, that was created by a white dwarf star. The white dwarf was part of a binary star system and pulled mass from its companion, eventually unbalancing the star and triggering runaway nuclear fusion that eventually led to an intensely violent explosion.

Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, S. Smartt et al.
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Image CreditESA/Hubble & NASA, S. Smartt et al.
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