The Cartwheel Galaxy (also known as ESO 350-40) is a lenticular galaxy about 500 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor. It is an estimated 150,000 light-years across, has a mass of about 2.9–4.8 × 109 solar masses, and rotates at 217 km/s.
It was discovered by Fritz Zwicky in 1941. Zwicky considered his discovery to be "one of the most complicated structures awaiting its explanation on the basis of stellar dynamics."
An estimation of the galaxy's span resulted in a conclusion of 150,000 light years, which is slightly larger than the Milky Way.
Read more about Cartwheel Galaxy: Structures, Evolution, X-ray Sources
Famous quotes containing the word galaxy:
“for it is not so much to know the self
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by galaxy and cedar cone,
as if birth had never found it
and death could never end it:”
—Archie Randolph Ammons (b. 1926)