The peculiar galaxy NGC 3256 dominates this image from the James Webb Space Telescope. This Milky Way-sized galaxy lies about 120 million light-years away in the constellation Vela, and is a denizen of the Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster. NGC 3256 may seem peaceful, a swirl of tightly entwined spiral arms set in a hazy cloud of light, but this image shows the aftermath of an ancient cosmic clash. This distorted galaxy is the wreckage of a head-on collision between two equally massive spiral galaxies which astronomers estimate to have met around 500 million years ago. Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA
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Size: 4206px × 3528px
Location: Space / the Universe / WR 124
Photo credit: © NASA / digitaleye / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 21mb8bit, 3256, astronomy, celestial, color, colour, colourful, cosmic, cosmos, difraction, digitaleye, distant, expanse, galactic, galaxy, horizontal, james, jamie, jwst, marshall, misc23_nasa038, nasa, ngc, science, space, spectacular, spokes, stars, technology, telescope, tribaleye, universe, vast, webb
