Diese Aufsuchkarte zeigt die Position der fernen Galaxie ESO 137-001 im Sternbild Triangulum Australe (das düdliche Dreieck). Es handelt sich um einen sternreichen Bereich des Himmels nahe der Milchstraße, die Galaxie erscheint daher schwach und ist nur mit einem großen Teleskop sichtbar. Image credit: ESO, IAU and Sky & Telescope (Click image to enlarge)
The MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope has provided researchers with the best view yet of a spectacular cosmic crash. Observations reveal for the first time the motion of gas as it is ripped out of the galaxy ESO 137-001 as it ploughs at high speed into a vast galaxy cluster. The results are the key to the solution of a long-standing mystery — why star formation switches off in galaxy clusters. In this picture the colours show the motions of the gas filaments — red means the material is moving away from Earth compared to the galaxy and blue that it is approaching. Note that the upper-left and lower-right parts of this picture have been filled in using the Hubble image of this object.