(click on image to enlarge)
From NASA/ ESA, February 3, 2020: This eye-catching galaxy is known as NGC 5364.
Unmistakably a spiral, NGC 5364 is also something known as a grand design spiral galaxy
— a descriptive name deserved by only one-tenth of spirals. While all
spirals have a structure that is broadly similar, there is quite a bit
of variation amongst individual galaxies; some have patchy, oddly-shaped
arms, some have bars of stars cutting through their core, some are
colossal and radiant, and others are dim and diminutive. Grand designs
like NGC 5364 are in many ways the archetype of a spiral galaxy. They
are characterised by their prominent, well-defined arms, which circle
outwards from a clear core.
Despite being classified in this way, NGC 5364 is far from
perfect. Its arms are asymmetrical compared to other grand design
spirals — this is thought to be due to interactions with a nearby
neighbour. This neighbour and NGC 5364 are tugging on one another,
warping and moving their stars and gas around and causing this misshapen
appearance.
This image was captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3.Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, L. Ho, P. Erwin et al.
