Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Spiral Galaxies in Collision

NASA ^ | January 19, 2014 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Explanation: Billions of years from now, only one of these two galaxies will remain. Until then, spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163 will slowly pull each other apart, creating tides of matter, sheets of shocked gas, lanes of dark dust, bursts of star formation, and streams of cast-away stars. Astronomers predict that NGC 2207, the larger galaxy on the left, will eventually incorporate IC 2163, the smaller galaxy on the right. In the most recent encounter that about peaked 40 million years ago, the smaller galaxy is swinging around counter-clockwise, and is now slightly behind the larger galaxy. The space between stars is so vast that when galaxies collide, the stars in them usually do not collide.

[SunkenCiv]

[Credit: Debra Meloy Elmegreen (Vassar College) et al., & the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI/NASA)]

[SunkenCiv]

The Big One

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[Young Werther]

Sheldon and Leonard are gettin' Swirlies!!!

[onyx]

That’s beautiful!
Thank you so much, SunkenCiv!

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I have no real idea of these galaxy's locations but...

looking at this picture and thinking three dimensionally, are they even close to each other?

[left that other site]

I hope they are insured.

[JoeProBono]

[just me]

Eyes of God, and he looks angry....

[mikrofon]

I’m suddenly sensing my cat staring at me ...

[just me]

:)