Object Analysis

The Cartwheel Galaxy is a ring galaxy located 500 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor. Its unusual shape, resembling a wagon wheel, is the result of a violent galactic collision. A smaller galaxy passed right through the center of a large spiral galaxy, creating a shockwave that swept outward.

This shockwave triggered a burst of star formation as it compressed the gas, creating the bright blue ring of young stars that we see today. The ring is immense, with a diameter of 150,000 light-years—larger than our entire Milky Way.

The "spokes" of the wheel are actually reformation of spiral arms, as the galaxy slowly attempts to recover its original spiral structure. The Cartwheel is a rare snapshot of the destructive and transformative power of high-speed galactic impacts.