Close-up: The Ghostly Shells of Galaxy ESO 381-12 in Centaurus | Hubble

Close-up: The Ghostly Shells of Galaxy ESO 381-12 in Centaurus | Hubble

The ghostly shells of lenticular galaxy ESO 381-12 are captured here in an image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope, set against a backdrop of distant galaxies. The strikingly uneven structure and the clusters of stars that orbit around the galaxy suggest that ESO 381-12 may have been part of a dramatic collision in its relatively recent past.

Distance from Earth: 270 million light years

Lenticular galaxies are intermediate galaxies with a central bulge and disk like spirals but lacking spiral arms, containing mostly old stars and little ongoing star formation.

Credit: NASA, ESA, P. Goudfrooij (STScI)

Duration: 50 seconds
Release Date: July 9, 2015

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