Hubble captures supernova host galaxy

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, S. Smartt et al.

This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features the spectacular galaxy NGC 2442, nicknamed the Meathook galaxy owing to its extremely asymmetrical and irregular shape.

Source / Image Courtesy

The Meathook Galaxy, or NGC 2442, has a dramatically lopsided shape. One spiral arm is tightly folded in on itself and host to a recent supernova, while the other, dotted with recent star formation, extends far out from the nucleus.

The Meathook Galaxy, or NGC 2442, in the southern constellation of Volans (The Flying Fish), is easily recognized for its asymmetric spiral arms. The galaxy's lopsided appearance is thought to be due to gravitational interactions with another galaxy at some point in its history — though astronomers have not so far been able to positively identify the culprit.