Galaxy NGC 2775 continues to baffle astronomers
Imagine a galaxy, with its bright stars and space dust. What does this look like in your mind? Chances are it’s a swirling circle of galactic energy. A galaxy is often described as one of a few broadly defined shapes – elliptical, spiral, or lenticular – as described by the Hubble sequence. At the same time, the Vaucouleurs system developed the Hubble model with, among other features, more precise designations for various spirals.
Regardless of your preferred galactic organizational system, you’ll probably have a hard time describing the Hubble Space Telescope’s recent glimpse of NGC 2775. Located 67 million light-years away in the constellation Cancer, NGC 2775 somewhat resembles an elliptical galaxy with its large featureless central region. At the same time, its dust-covered ring of outer star clusters is usually found in spiral variants. So what kind of galaxy is NGC 2775, anyway?
According to NASA, the answer has yet to be determined. Astronomers will lean toward elliptical or spiral depending on who you ask, while some experts even claim that its spiral and elliptical attributes meet the “lenticular” definition. This could actually be a lead, since astronomers still don’t know exactly how lenticular galaxies form in the first place.
At least some evidence suggests that NGC 2775 developed its strange shape after merging with other galaxies eons ago. Although not visible in the Hubble image, NGC 2775 has a tail of hydrogen gas extending nearly 100,000 light years around it. This tail could be all that remains of previously devoured galaxies.
Additional observations from space telescopes will likely solve the mystery of NGC 2775 once and for all. Until then, however, most astronomers consider it a flaky spiral galaxy, with extremely nebulous and discontinuous arms.
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