The phenomena that stumped astronomers for

decades
The discovery of Galaxy NGC 474’s shells and what this means for us
Blog by Sarah Collinson

Galaxy NGC 474: Shells and Star Streams [1]

You might look at this image and be thinking, surely technology has evolved enough to remove glare
from camera lenses especially in the high-quality cameras used to image space. Well, the answer to
that is … unsurprisingly, they have. What you’re seeing isn’t the result of a camera insufficiency, it’s
in fact what is known as ‘shells’. Shells are the faint ‘ripple’ structures of increased brightness seen
around various galaxies and are thought to be created as a result of the dynamical friction when a
smaller galaxy is swallowed by a larger galaxy, an event called a merger [2]. This photo is of the
galaxy NGC 474, an elliptical galaxy about 100 million light-years away in the Pisces constellation [3].
Galaxies themselves are massive collections of dust, gas and billions of stars and their solar systems
held together by gravity – scientists say there might be as many as 100 billion in the universe [4].
Elliptical galaxies specifically are generally characterised by their somewhat smooth appearance,
however NGC 474 is unique in that it is surrounded by tidal tails and shells made up of hundreds of
millions of stars [3]. Now regarding the shells visible around NGC 474, their cause is currently
unknown. Why is that? Well, that’s what we will be exploring further.

Shells themselves are fine stellar structures with low surface brightness found around a number of
galaxies in the universe, mainly elliptical ones – elliptical galaxies are thought to be formed by two
spiral galaxies merging, subsequently leading to the formation of shells [7]. They do not completely
encircle the galaxy it is situated with, but can be described as interleaved concentric arcs that have
large opening angles that are often situated on either side of the galaxy centre [5]. For galaxies that
are more elliptical in shape e.g. NGC 1344 and NGC 3923, their arcs are aligned along the galaxies
major axis [6]. The range of shells’ radii is quite large, with the separation of shells increasing with its
radius. Shells have been discovered around both normal elliptical galaxies, such as NGC 3923 (as
shown below) and NGC 1344, as well as around abnormal elliptical galaxies such as NGC 5128 and
NGC 7070A (which are quite fascinating to look at might I add), but interestingly not around spiral
galaxies and very rarely around S0 galaxies (also called lenticular galaxies – in-between spiral and
elliptical) [6]. What I found particularly interesting myself was that they also seem to favour field
galaxies – galaxies that don’t belong to a larger cluster and are hence gravitationally alone [7]. The
total number of shells around a galaxy can be quite large and hence can extend to very large
distances – for example galaxy NGC 3923 has approximately 20 shells, the furthest being 180 kpc
away from the galaxy itself [6]. While most shells surrounding galaxies seem relatively regular, as
shown below, what particularly interesting about galaxy NGC 474 is that its shells are randomly
arranged, for reasons which are currently unknown at this stage – I will explore theories for this
alteration further down.

Galaxy NGC 3923: Typical elliptical galaxy with shells [8]

How do shells form?

While their features are relatively well understood, their cause has been puzzling astronomers for
decades. There have been a number of early theories detailing a large range of different mechanisms
through undertaking numerical simulations. One of the earliest theories suggested that shells are the
result of recent star formation in regions of galactic wind, which are high-speed charged particle
streams often observed blowing out of galaxies [5,9]. This theory however was not able to explain
the interleaved arrangement of shells. A competing theory suggested that shells are density waves
induced by a passing galaxy due to tidal interactions, however this model predicted that shells would
have similar colours to their host which was not always the case – there being evidence for shell
systems both redder and bluer than their host, as well as differing colours of outer shells compared
to inner ones of the same galaxy [5]. Currently, it is thought the shells are formed as a result of
dynamical friction in galaxies that have recently undergone a merger event [2]. As the larger galaxy
“swallows” the smaller galaxy and settles into the new environment, it tends to oscillate near the
overall centre of mass with a regularly decreasing amplitude [2]. At the extremes of its decaying
orbit, there is a slight increase in the density of stars due to dynamical friction and it’s these slight
over densities that are what we know as shells [2]. A recent study undertaken in 2018 went a step
further and indicated that major merger events account for a significant proportion of shells
observed in massive elliptical galaxies [5]. They also found that the key factor in the formation shells
lies in the precise radial encounter between the two galaxies in the final stages of the merger event,
showing just how intricate this process is.

What’s different about Galaxy NGC 474?

As I mentioned previously, NGC 474’s shells seem to have a unique appearance. Multiple shells and
tidal tails (which are thin and elongated regions of stars and interstellar gases that are a result of
interactions between galaxies) surround NGC 474 which in itself is unique [11]. The shells multiple
layers of emission also appear to be rather strange and complex and their cause is currently
unknown. One theory proposes that they are a result of the tidal tails that are related to the
remaining debris from absorbing multiple small galaxies in the past billion years [1]. Alternatively,
other studies have suggested the irregular appearance is caused by ongoing collisions with the spiral
galaxy NGC 470 which lies just above NGC 474 (it does look like NGC 470 lies to the right of NGC 474
in the picture but it’s not the case), causing density waves to propagate through the massive galaxy
[10]. A 2020 study further expanded on this, indicating that the absorption of gas from NGC 470 also
plays a role in the irregular appearance of their shells which I find particularly interesting [3].

The discovery of shells

Rather than dedicating space missions to the discovery of shells, astronomers utilise telescopes
(both ground-based and orbiting telescopes). Telescopes have been used as they key tool for
astronomical discovery for 100s of years and were first used by Galileo in 1609 – though they have
evolved significantly since then [12]. More recently, space telescopes (telescopes that are in an orbit
around Earth) are used to obtain clearer views as it avoids the light-distorting and blocking effects of
Earth’s atmosphere – in particular the Hubble Space Telescope which launched in 1990 – allowing
more sophisticated data to be obtained, answering some of the most critical questions we have
about the universe [13].

Although shells in distant galaxies have been discovered years ago, shells in our own galaxy have
only been a recent finding. In 2020, a number of shells were discovered in the Milky Way for the very
first time. A team of astronomers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Flatiron Institute, the
University of Pennsylvania and Queen’s University discovered two shells in the Virgo Overdensity
region and two in the Hercules Aquila Cloud region of the Milky Way, based on data from ESA’s Gaia
space telescope, the LAMOST telescope in China and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) [14]. What’s
interesting about this discovery was that about two decades astronomers discovered an unusual
high-density region of stars which they named the Virgo Overdensity [14]. What was more unusual
was that the stars had varying velocities as they typically travel together, so astronomers proposed
that the overdensity was a result of a radial merger event [12]. In fact, computer modelling of the
discovered shells and the motion of these stars indicated that a dwarf galaxy first passed through the
centre of the Milky Way 2.7 billion years ago which was ripped apart from the gravitational forces –
providing integral information about the evolution of the Milky Way [14]. This finding has other
potential implications for other stellar phenomena’s, including the Gaia Sausage as previous studies
have supported the idea that both the Virgo Merger and the Gaia Sausage resulted from the same
event [14].

Significance of shells to our understanding of the universe

Although shells might seem like merely something fascinating to look at, they provide astronomers
with significant amounts of information that helps explain a number of phenomena’s in the universe,
as I hinted at above. It is well known that interactions of galaxies frequently lead to merging events,
which played a significant role in the formation and evolution of galaxies [7]. As outlined previously,
shells have been proposed to be caused by merger events and often these leave behind unique
morphological features in the residual galaxy, such as tidal streams, shells and rings [5]. Further
investigation of shells is integral in the discovery of both the complete structure of a galaxy and its
dynamics as well as their merger history, allowing astronomers to reconstruct the path of the
absorbed galaxy billions of years after the merger event [2]. The number and distribution of shells
around a galaxy can also aid astronomers in calculating the mass distribution of the host galaxy and
can even indicate when the merger event occurred [5]. This interaction can be further derived by
studying the number, stellar population, geometry and gas content of shells [7]. Several studies have
also suggested that the gravitational potential of the host galaxy can be calculated using the line-of-
sight velocity distributions of shells (its velocity along the observers’ line of sight) [5, 15].
Furthermore, the morphology of shells can also assist in determining the 3-D structure of the galaxy
potential, for example if the galaxy is elliptical and their shells align along its major axis and radii are
interleaved, the galaxy is in prolate rotation – i.e. a prolate galaxy [7].

Not only do shells aid in determining the galaxies’ origin and its dynamic structure, NGC 474 in
particular supports the increasing the consensus that some elliptical galaxies have recently formed
[1]. The discovery of this galaxy also reinforces that the outer halos of most large galaxies are
extremely complex which are induced by frequent interactions with smaller galaxies nearby. This in
turn promotes further investigation, having a significant impact on our understanding of our own
galaxy, the Milky Way, as its halo is an example of an unexpected complexity [1].

While the exact phenomena of shells and their variations remain largely unknown, we can’t argue
that the growth in our scientific understanding of shells have provided astronomers with a significant
amount of information that has aided in our understanding of space. I personally am fascinated with
the breadth of information that shells have given us about various stellar processes, something that I
would never thought possible. Now in regards to Galaxy NGC 474 specifically, an understanding of its
unique characteristics will have a profound effect on our understanding of our own galaxy, The Milky
Way. And now I just have one question, what’s next?
References
[1] Nemiroff, R. and Bonnell, J., 2018. Astronomy Picture of the Day. Galaxy NGC 474: Shells and Star
Streams. [image] Available at: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180206.html [Accessed 26 June 2021].

[2] Astronomy.swinburne.edu.au. 2021. Shells | COSMOS. [online] Available at:

https://astronomy.swinburne.edu.au/cosmos/S/Shells [Accessed 1 July 2021].

[3] www.noirlab.edu. 2021. Elliptical galaxy NGC 474 — excerpt from the Dark Energy Survey.
[online] Available at: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noirlab2106a/ [Accessed 1 July 2021].

[4] Science. 2021. Galaxy Information and Facts. [online] Available at:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/galaxies [Accessed 2 July 2021].

[5] Pop, A., Pillepich, A., Amorisco, N. and Hernquist, L., 2018. Formation and incidence of shell
galaxies in the Illustris simulation. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 480(2),
pp.1715-1739.

[6] Athanassoula, E. and Bosma, A., 1985. Shells and Rings Around Galaxies. Annual Review of
Astronomy and Astrophysics, 23(1), pp.147-168.

[7] Mancillas, B., Combes, F. and Duc, P., 2019. Molecular gas content of shell galaxies. Astronomy &
Astrophysics, 630, p.A112.

[8] Olsen, R., 2018. Deep Image of Peculiar Shell Elliptical Galaxy NGC 3923 in Hydra. [image]
Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/68206208@N03/43350157252 [Accessed 24 July 2021].

[9] Astronomy.swin.edu.au. n.d. Galactic Winds | COSMOS. [online] Available at:

https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/g/Galactic+Winds [Accessed 24 July 2021].

[10] Astronomy.com. n.d. [online] Available at:

https://astronomy.com/sitefiles/resources/image.aspx?item=%7B09B688BB-66C2-4C2C-8944-
1CFD9AD99FDF%7D [Accessed 25 July 2021].

[11] Astronomy.swin.edu.au. n.d. Tidal Tails | COSMOS. [online] Available at:

https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/t/Tidal+Tails [Accessed 25 July 2021].

[12] Spaceplace.nasa.gov. 2021. How Do Telescopes Work? | NASA Space Place – NASA Science for
Kids. [online] Available at: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/telescopes/en/ [Accessed 27 July 2021].

[13] NASA. n.d. Discoveries - Why a Space Telescope?. [online] Available at:
https://www.nasa.gov/content/discoveries-why-a-space-telescope [Accessed 27 July 2021].

[14] SciTechDaily. 2020. First of Their Kind “Shell Structures” Found in Milky Way – Evidence of
Galactic Collision. [online] Available at: https://scitechdaily.com/first-of-their-kind-shell-structures-
found-in-milky-way-evidence-of-galactic-collision/ [Accessed 27 July 2021].

[15] Oxford Reference. n.d. line-of-sight velocity. [online] Available at:

https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100107346 [Accessed 28
July 2021].