New flat disk galaxy pics

Very cool pics of a flat disk galaxy...

Flat disk galaxy

I am sure they will be watching this little galaxy very closely for a long time to come.



"This galaxy has a flat pancake shape, indicating that it hasn't yet
come face to face with another galaxy as such a galactic collision
would have disturbed the thin disc of stars, creating a small bulge in its centre.
Most astronomers think that galaxies grow by merging with other galaxies,
in a process called hierarchical galaxy formation.
Over time, this should create large bulges in the centres of spirals.
Recent research, however, has suggested that bulgeless, or pure-disc,
spiral galaxies like NGC 3621 are actually fairly common."


I love it when scientist have to change the way they see the universe...