ESO 137-001

ESO 137-001
HST image of ESO 137-001
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
ConstellationTriangulum Australe
Right ascension16h 13m 27.305s
Declination−60° 45 50.59
Redshift0.015565
Heliocentric radial velocity4630 ± 58 km/s
Distance220 million ly
Characteristics
TypeSBc
Size100,000 ly
Apparent size (V)1.23′ × 0.55
Notable featuresTrail of gas
Other designations
ESO 137-001, ESO 137-1, ESO-LV 137-0010, PGC 57532

ESO 137-001, also known as the Jellyfish Galaxy, is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Triangulum Australe and in the cluster Abell 3627. As the galaxy moves to the center of the galaxy cluster at 1900 km/s, it is stripped by hot gas, thus creating a 260,000 light-year long tail. This is called ram pressure stripping (RPS). The intergalactic gas in Abell 3627 is at 100 million Kelvin, which causes star formation in the tails. The galaxy has a low amount of Hl regions which combine to a total mass of 3.5x10^8 solar masses, only 10% of which is located in the main disk of ESO 137-001.