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The Cartwheel Galaxy, ESO 350-40, is a very far away galaxy, in the constellation Sculptor. This galaxy lies 500 million light years away. It has been calculated that, 700 million years ago (it was, then, 200 million years ago, that this light reached us), this spiral galaxy (sometimes also considered to be a distorted elliptical) had a gravitational encounter with another galaxy (probably one or both its neighbors in the picture) and was left with this remarkable structure. This “collision” triggered star birth in the ring (and hence, its beautiful bluish color).
Additional Information
Object
Name(s): Cartwheel galaxy. ESO 350-40
Type: Galaxy
RA: 00h 37m 41s
Dec: -33º 43’ 00”
Constellation: Sculptor
Size (arcmin): 1.4×1.0
Magnitude:
Distance: 500 Mly
Image
Date: 2015-08-15 to 22
Location: iTelescope.net, SSO near Coonabarabran, NSW Australia
Size (arcmin): 28×20
Telescope: Planewave CDK 20” f/6.8
Camera: SBIG STX16803 (4096x4096pix)
Guiding: Astrodon MonsterMOAG off-axis guider
Total exposure: 12.75 hs (L: 4.75 hs; R: 3.25 hs; G: 2 hs; B: 2.75 hs)
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CC 2016 and PixInsight