Spiral Arm Close-up: The Meathook Galaxy—NGC 2442 in Volans | Hubble

Spiral Arm Close-up: The Meathook Galaxy—NGC 2442 in Volans | Hubble

This Hubble view of the Meathook Galaxy (NGC 2442) focuses on the more compact of its two asymmetric spiral arms.

Distance from Earth: ~55 million light years

This galaxy was host to a supernova explosion in March 2025, known as SN2015F, that was created by a white dwarf star. The white dwarf was part of a binary star system and syphoned mass from its companion, eventually becoming too greedy and taking on more than it could handle. This unbalanced the star and triggered runaway nuclear fusion that eventually led to an intensely violent supernova explosion. The supernova shone brightly for a short period and was easily visible from Earth through even a small telescope until later that summer.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), S. Smartt et al.
Release Date: August 17, 2020

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