The Fracture Galaxy: A short, punchy name highlighting the disrupted, broken appearance of its spiral pattern.

NGC 2146 (also known as the Dusty Hand Galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy type SB(s)ab pec in the constellation Camelopardalis. The galaxy was discovered in 1876 by Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke.

NGC 2146 has an isophotal diameter of 38.3 kiloparsecs (125,000 light-years), slightly larger than the Milky Way. The galaxy's most conspicuous feature is the dusty lanes of a spiral arm lying across the core of the galaxy as seen from Earth, the arm having been bent 45 degrees by a close encounter with a smaller galaxy, possibly NGC 2146A, about 0.8 billion years ago. This close encounter is credited with the relatively high rates of star formation that qualify NGC 2146 as a starburst galaxy.

NGC 2146A is a Intermediate Spiral Galaxy in the Camelopardalis constellation. NGC 2146A is situated close to the northern celestial pole and, as such, it is visible for most part of the year from the northern hemisphere. Given its visual magnitude of 12.87, NGC 2146A is visible with the help of a telescope having an aperture of 10 inches (250mm) or more.

NGC 2146 has been host to three known supernova events:

SN 2005V (Type Ib/c, mag. 16) was discovered by LIRIS on 30 January 2005.

SN 2018zd (Type II, mag. 17.8) is possibly a Type IIn and might be the first electron-capture supernova, and was discovered on 2 March 2018 by Kōichi Itagaki.

SN 2024abfl (Type II, mag. 17.5) was discovered on 15 November 2024 by Kōichi Itagaki.

The 45-Degree Bent Arm: A prominent, dust-heavy spiral arm is pulled drastically out of its plane, looping right in front of the galaxy's core from our perspective. Colossal gravitational forces warped this stellar path by 45 degrees.

The Cannibalism Aftermath: The extreme distortion is heavily credited to a severe tidal interaction with a gas-rich companion galaxy roughly 0.8 billion years ago. Astronomers theorize the smaller galaxy was entirely torn apart and absorbed during the merger. Vigorous Starburst Activity:

The ancient collision sent massive density ripples through the galactic medium. This compressed hydrogen-rich nebulas to spark rapid star formation, outstripping standard galactic birth rates.