(click on image to enlarge)
From NASA/ ESA, August 10, 2020: NGC 1614, captured 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).
NGC 1614 is the result of a past galactic merger
which created its peculiar appearance. The cosmic collision also drove a
turbulent flow of interstellar gas from the smaller of the two galaxies
involved into the nucleus of the larger one, resulting in a burst of
star formation which started in the core and slowly spread outwards
through the galaxy.
Owing to its turbulent past and its current appearance,
astronomers classify NGC 1614 as a peculiar galaxy, a starburst galaxy,
and a luminous infrared galaxy.
Luminous infrared galaxies are among the most luminous objects in the
local Universe — and NGC 1614 is, in fact, the second most luminous
galaxy within 250 million light-years.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Adamo
