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The rough-and-tumble environment near the center of a massive galaxy cluster is no match for a wayward spiral galaxy. New NASAHubble Space Telescope images show a spiral galaxy being stripped of its gas as it plunges toward the cluster’s center. A long, thin streamer of gas and dust stretches like taffy from the galaxy's core and on into space. Eventually, the galaxy will lose all of its gas and become a dead relic, deprived of the material to create new stars and shining only by the feeble glow of old, red stars. Seen here, the dark brown streaks near the central region are silhouettes of dust escaping from the galaxy. The dust is part of a long, thin tail, also composed of hydrogen gas, that stretches out from the galaxy's core. Hubble, however, sees only the dust. The telescope's sharp vision also uncovered the blue glow of clumps of young stars in the tail. The brightest clump in the middle of the tail contains at least 200,000 stars, fueled by the ongoing loss of hydrogen gas. C...

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