NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has recently captured a stunning image of a puzzling galaxy which is hard to fit in any category due to its unique features.
The galaxy called NGC 2775 is located 67 million light-years away in the constellation Cancer.
The recent version of the galaxy gives insight into the specific wavelength of red light emitted by hydrogen gas surrounding huge young stars. These stars are shown as bright, pinkish clumps in a newly-released image.
The NGC 2775 galaxy’s categorization has been a debatable issue in the scientific community due to its enigmatic features.
The galaxy resembles an elliptical galaxy on the claims of the centre that is devoid of gas. On the other hand, it also possesses a dusty ring with patchy start clusters, the characteristics of a spiral galaxy.
Given its contentious nature, some astronomers categorise NGC 2775 as a spiral galaxy due to its feathery ring of dust and stars. Some researchers called it a lenticular galaxy, demonstrating features between elliptical and spiral galaxies.
Some evidence suggests that the galaxy also possesses the ability to be merged with other galaxies in the past.
NGC 2775 has a tail of hydrogen gas, stretching almost 100,000 light-years around the galaxy. According to scientists, the faint tail could offer evidence on the remnants of one or more galaxies that are being absorbed in NGC 2775 after wandering too close to it.
The merger could also explain the galaxy’s mysterious appearance.
Most researchers classify NGC 2775 as a flocculent spiral galaxy, characterized by discontinuous arms.
In 2020, the Hubble telescope released the picture of galaxy NGC 2775.