The presented image was taken by the ACS camera installed on board the Hubble telescope. It demonstrates a very unusual deep space object, known under the designation CGCG 396-2.
CGCG 396-2 is located at a distance of 520 million light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Orion. It is a so-called “multi-arm” galaxy. Such objects are sometimes formed as a result of the merger of several galaxies.
The CGCG 396-2 image was obtained as part of the Galaxy Zoo Citizen Science project. Hundreds of thousands of volunteers from many countries participate in it. They view images from robotic telescopes and help astronomers classify galaxies.
Over the years of Galaxy Zoo’s existence, astroenthusiasts have discovered a number of very strange and bizarre types of galaxies, some of which were not previously known. During the subsequent voting, the most unusual of them (including CGCG 396-2) were selected for more detailed study using the Hubble telescope.
According to https://esahubble.org
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