What Caused the Cartwheel Galaxy to be on its Side?

This distinct image with the strangely lopsided galaxy, its two friends, and the backdrop of hundreds of other galaxies has puzzled scientists for years. Ever since Hubble released the first images of it in 2018, astrophysicists have wondered why the galaxy is so strangely shaped. The galaxy has always been "shrouded in mystery" due to the large dust clouds that surround and envelop it. Now that we have James Webb, however, we can take infrared images of the galaxy and see beyond most of the dust. It turns out that the galaxy had always been a mostly normal, large spiral galaxy. The change in its shape and rotation resulted from a collision with another small galaxy. When galaxies collide, countless different changes can undergo both galaxies due to the exchanges of gravity. The Cartwheel Galaxy is one of the most dramatic examples of this we have. Currently, it is known as a ring galaxy due to a large amount of mass building up in ripples and spreading out from the center of the galaxy, much like the wheels of a cart. However, that is expected to change due to the force, and effects of the collision. The Cartwheel Galaxy will continue to change over the years and James Webb makes the evidence of this evolution and the details significantly clearer.

All Image Credit Goes to NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI