This pair of former disc galaxies, seen mid-collision, resemble an owl in flight. The cores of the two individual galaxies are embedded in hot dust and contain a large number of stars. The "wings" sweeping out from the center are tidal tails of stars and gas that have been pulled from the easily distorted discs of the galaxies. Named ESO 148-2, this object is about 600 million light-years from Earth. Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)
