Galaxy ESO 162-17, NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image. ESO 162-17 is located about 40 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Carina. The galaxy contains dark patches of dust and bright patches of young, blue stars. ESO 162-17 is known as a peculiar galaxy because it has gone through interactions with neighbouring galaxies resulting in an unusual amount of dust and gas and an irregular shape. The four-pointed shape of foreground stars distributed around ESO 162-17 is an optical effect introduced as the incoming light is diffracted by the four struts that support the HST's small secondary mirror.