Subaru Gallery

In the vast cosmic images captured through the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP), a large-scale survey spanning 330 nights of Subaru Telescope operations starting in 2014 and lasting over seven years, many interacting or colliding galaxies are captured, affecting each other’s shapes through mutual gravitation. This image shows two interacting spiral galaxies in the Virgo constellation that resemble jellyfish. The galaxy corresponding to the jellyfish bell is UGC 9327, and another galaxy in the tail-looking tentacles is UGC 9326. The HSC staff member who discovered the pair of galaxies named them the ‘Jellyfish Galaxy’ due to their striking appearance.
Galaxies are thought to have evolved through a series of interactions and mergers. In the Universe, interactions and mergers between galaxies occur frequently. Visit the hscMap website, where you can freely explore the vast cosmic images captured by HSC and be the one to discover the next unique shape in our Universe! Find the Jellyfish Galaxy on the hscMap: from the menu bar, select “Bookmarks” > “Recommended Objects” > Interacting Galaxies 5 (UCG 9327…).
(Credit: NAOJ; Image provided by Masayuki Tanaka)

【Distance from Earth】About 770 million light-years
【Instrument】Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC)