Black Holes: Part 1 of 3
Episode 5: A Sky Full of Ghosts, Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey
LEDA 36252, a cosmic tadpole
In this new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, a firestorm of star birth is lighting up one end of the diminutive galaxy LEDA 36252 — also known as Kiso 5649.
The galaxy is a member of a class of galaxies called “tadpoles” because of their bright heads and elongated tails. This galaxy resides relatively nearby, at a distance of 80 million light-years. Tadpoles are rare in the local Universe but common in the distant Universe, suggesting that many galaxies pass through a phase like this as they evolve.
The second photo is a ground-based image showing the tadpole galaxy LEDA 36252 and its surroundings.
