NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) and
M. Donahue (STScI) and J. Trauger (JPL)

This Hubble Space Telescope image, released yesterday, shows two galaxies roaring toward one another at more than 6 million mph (9.7 million kilometers per hour). Astronomers believe galaxy mergers are a key aspect to development and likely contributed to the makeup of today's Milky Way.

In the foreground is a spiral galaxy, seen nearly edge-on as though looking at a dinner plate with your eyes just a few inches above the table. To grasp its shape, look for the brown splotches of dust and the blue regions, which indicate heavy star formation. You'll see the galaxy not as you might have expected -- only its spiral arms are evident, much like the arms of a starfish that happen to all curve in one direction.

Behind this spiral is a giant and obvious elliptical galaxy, seen face on (as though looking directly down at the dinner plate). It has a faint spiral structure at its center. The elliptical galaxy is called NGC 1275. It is about 235 million light-years away in the constellation Perseus.

The collision, in progress, causes gas and dust to swirl toward the center of NGC 1275, which likely harbors a supermassive black hole at its center.

The image at the right is from the same set of observations, done in 1995, but provides a broader view and labels the features. Around the scene are other galaxies, all part of the Perseus Cluster. Also, some stars in the image appear relatively huge; that's because they are well in the foreground -- right here in our Milky Way.

-- Robert Roy Britt

More Galactic Collisions from Hubble:
Mice, NGC 7319, NGC 6745