Antennae Galaxies. Hubble Space Telescope image of star birth caused by the interactions of the Antennae Galaxies (NGC 4038/4039). These two spiral ga

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Antennae Galaxies. Hubble Space Telescope image of star birth caused by the interactions of the Antennae Galaxies (NGC 4038/4039). These two spiral galaxies are colliding in the constellation of Corvus at a distance of about 63 million light years from Earth. Their cores (orange, at centre left & upper right) are crossed by dark lanes of dust. Chaotic gas clouds lie between the cores. The creation of over 1000 bright, young star clusters (white/blue) has been triggered by the galaxies' collision. Image taken by Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2; the smallest visible features are 15 light-years across.

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Size: 2600px × 2752px
Photo credit: © NASA/ESA/STSCI/B.WHITMORE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 4038, 4039, antennae, astronomy, birth, colliding, cosmology, galactic, galaxies, galaxy, hubble, image, interacting, ngc, science, spiral, star