colliding galaxies

IC 1623 Hubble Image

Sometimes, galaxies collide

By Phil Plait 4 months ago

The Antennae Galaxies, a pair of colliding spiral galaxies 45 million light years away. Credit: NASA/ESA/ESO/NAOJ, Rolf Olsen and Federico Pelliccia

Going deep on colliding galaxies

By Phil Plait 1 year ago

NASA image of a galactic merger

The Milky Way head-butted another galaxy billions of years ago

By Elizabeth Rayne 1 year ago

The dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 4485 has a lot of gas and star formation going on either in it or nearby, due to the influence of another galaxy.

A lopsided trail of galactic destruction… and construction

By Phil Plait 2 years ago

A closer look at the center of NGC 3256 reveals the chaos there, struggling to recover order. Dark dust clouds and bright stars may yet retain their overall spiral distribution. Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA

The staggering beauty of galactic collisions

By Phil Plait 2 years ago

NGC 5426 (right) and NGC 5427 (left), together known as Arp 271, are close enough to each other to be interacting. Credit: ESO/Juan Carlos Muñoz

Will they or won't they? Two galaxies that probably won't become one

By Phil Plait 3 years ago

A heavily-stretched contrast image shows galaxies galore, including NGC 7331 (upper center) and Stephan’s Quintet (below center right). Credit: CFHT, Pierre-Alain Duc (Observatoire de Strasbourg) & Jean-Charles Cuillandre (CEA Saclay/Obs. de Paris).

A quintet of galaxies that's actually a quartet. Except it's a quintet.

By Phil Plait 3 years ago

NGC 4490, a galaxy bursting with star formation after a recent close encounter with a smaller galaxy. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgements: D. Calzetti (UMass) and the LEGUS Team, J. Maund (University of Sheffield), and R. Chandar (University of To

A whirlwind romance leads to a million births

By Phil Plait 3 years ago

The galaxies collectively known as IRAS 06076-2139 are weakly interacting, but they’ve had an exciting past. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Two galaxies that pass in the night. Rapidly.

By Phil Plait 3 years ago

Arp 299 X-rays

Celestial fireworks pop off in a cosmic train wreck

By Phil Plait 4 years ago