A galactic collision

A pair of colliding galaxies sits in the lower-left of the frame, with two bright, close-together cores and long, thin arcs of bluish-white stars and gas sweeping outward in opposite directions against a dark purple-black sky. To the right, a round, face-on spiral galaxy with a bright center and faint, tightly wound arms appears above a smaller, fuzzy companion, all set in a dense background of tiny white stars scattered across the field.

📷: Greg Meyer from Phoenix, Arizona

The Antenna Galaxies (NGC 4038/9; at left) in Corvus are one of the most famous examples of interacting galaxies. As the two galaxies merge, gravitational tidal forces have flung their stars out into long tails. At right are the galaxy NGC 4027 and its smaller companion NGC 4027A. The imager took 20 hours 50 minutes of exposure in HαLRGB filters with a 5-inch scope.