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Cartwheel Galaxy

A ring galaxy shaped by a galactic collision.

The Cartwheel Galaxy (ESO 350-40) is a lenticular ring galaxy about 500 million light-years away in Sculptor. Its diameter, about 57.7 kpc, is slightly larger than the Andromeda Galaxy's. It has two rings, the outer one a site of heavy star formation.

Fritz Zwicky discovered it in 1941. It is the dominant member of the small Cartwheel Galaxy group.

Quick Facts

Constellation
Sculptor

More in Galactic Structures & Nebulae

Pinwheel GalaxyTadpole GalaxyCarina NebulaMilky WayHorsehead NebulaTarantula NebulaVeil NebulaRosette NebulaLarge Magellanic CloudSmall Magellanic Cloud

Elsewhere in Cosmos Codex

A0620-00 · Black Holes & ExoticGaia Mission · Missions & TelescopesUranus · Planets & MoonsJupiter · Planets & MoonsCapella · StarsTRAPPIST-1 · Stars

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