Hubble Captures Tadpole Galaxy Displaying Spectacular ‘Skyrocket’ Fireworks

Hubble space telescope's recent capture shows that fireworks are not confined to just our skies, after it sent back an image of a stellar show put up by a small, nearby galaxy that looks like a skyrocket from July 4th. The image reportedly shows a galaxy called Kiso 5639 lighted up on one side by a star birth firestorm and a star studded tail trails behind. Kiso 5639 is a dwarf galaxy which resembles a fattened pancake, however in the image it looks like a skyrocket because it is tilted edge on.

Hubble is #4thOfJuly ready as it reveals stellar fireworks in nearby galaxy, Kiso 5639.https://t.co/vfIozGLW4j pic.twitter.com/Svuf4OJzzT

— Hubble (@NASA_Hubble) June 28, 2016

Kiso 5639 is a rare and nearby example of an elongated galaxy. Such galaxies, which are called tadpoles, occur in abundance and make up for 10 percent of all galaxies and also give a look at the Universe in its earlier periods. "I think Kiso 5639 is a beautiful, up-close example of what must have been common long ago," said Debra Elmegreen, lead researcher from Vassar College. "The current thinking is that galaxies in the early universe grow from accreting gas from the surrounding neighborhood. It's a stage that galaxies, including our Milky Way, must go through as they are growing up".

According to the researching team of astronomers, the similarity of Kiso 5639 to a skyrocket firework may be due to the intergalactic gas raining on its one end as the tadpole travels through space. Incidentally the elongated galaxy, which is located at a distance of 82 million miles away, has taken billions of years to form due to its journey through an isolated area in the universe which has low gas.

Researchers feel that the phenomenon of a starburst occurring in a backwater galaxy is due to the exposure of Kiso 5639's leading edge with a fiber of gas, which resulted in the drop of a huge clump of matter upon the galaxy leading to the energetic star birth. Furthermore, as per the experts, other parts of the galaxy will also put up a firework show when another round of star birth takes place.