The beautiful, petal-like shells of galaxy PGC 6240 are captured here in intricate detail by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, set against a sky full of distant background galaxies. PGC 6240 is an elliptical galaxy approximately 350,000,000 light years away in the southern constellation of Hydrus (The Water Snake). It is orbited by a number of globular clusters that contain both young and old stars – thought to be a result of a galactic merger in the recent past.
Photo credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA. Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt
Note: For more information, see Soft Shells and Strange Star Clusters.
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