ESO 162-17 is a "peculiar galaxy" located about 40 million light-years away in the constellation of Carina. A peculiar galaxy is a galaxy that has gone through interactions with its cosmic neighbours, resulting in an unusual amount of dust and gas, an irregular shape, or a strange composition. Also, on 23 February 2010 astronomers observed the supernova known as SN 2010ae nestled within this galaxy. The supernova belongs to a recently discovered class of supernovae called Type Iax supernovae. This class of objects is related to the better known Type-Ia supernovae. Type Ia supernovae result when a white dwarf accumulates enough mass either from a companion or, rarely, through collision with another white dwarf, to initiate a catastrophic collapse followed by a spectacular explosion as a supernova. Type Iax supernovae also involve a white dwarf as the central star, but in this case it may survive the event. Type Iax supernovae are much fainter and rarer than Type Ia supernovae, and their exact mechanism is still a matter of open debate.

Using both ESA/ESO/NASA provided software and Photoshop, I combined b&w Hubble Space Telescope images (courtesy NASA, ESA & MAST) taken with blue, yellow-green, orange and red/infrared filters and processed them to create this image.