These two galaxies were spotted mid-collision – Astronomy Magazine
The galaxies NGC 5394 (the smaller one, on the right) and NGC 5395 (the larger one, on the left) are in the middle of colliding over the span of millions of years.
NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory/Gemini Observatory/AURA
Collisions between galaxies can take millions of years. The galaxies NGC 5394 and NGC 5395 are in the middle of one such ambling encounter.
The pair, located about 160 million light-years away from Earth, have already collided at least once, astronomers say. The stars in each of the galaxies are so far apart that any collisions between stars are very unlikely. However, the collision may have caused turbulent motions in the galaxies’ gases and triggered new bursts of star formation.
