The Meat Hook Galaxy
NGC 2442/2443 in Volans
was discovered by John Herschel in 1834, and gets the popular name 'Meat Hook' from its unusual 'S' shape. This distortion of its spiral arms is likely due to an ancient encounter with another galaxy. Located approximately 50.000,000 light-years away, it features two dusty arms extending from a pronounced central bar. Many thanks to Mike Selby for the new LRGB data, with additional galactic detail contributed by my old luminance from SSRO.
LARGE
was discovered by John Herschel in 1834, and gets the popular name 'Meat Hook' from its unusual 'S' shape. This distortion of its spiral arms is likely due to an ancient encounter with another galaxy. Located approximately 50.000,000 light-years away, it features two dusty arms extending from a pronounced central bar. Many thanks to Mike Selby for the new LRGB data, with additional galactic detail contributed by my old luminance from SSRO.
LARGE