Warped Spiral Galaxy ESO510-13
How did spiral galaxy ESO510-13 get bent out-of-shape? The disks of many spirals are thin and flat , but not solid. Spiral disks are loose conglomerations of billions of stars and diffuse gas all gravitationally orbiting a galaxy center. A flat disk is thought to be created by sticky collisions of large gas clouds early in the galaxy's formation . Warped disks are not uncommon, though, and even our own Milky Way Galaxy is thought to have a small warp . The causes of spiral warps are still being investigated, but some warps are thought to result from interactions or even collisions between galaxies. ESO510-13, pictured above , is about 150 million light years away and about 100,000 light years across.