A peculiar galactic clash

Galaxies are not static islands of stars—they are dynamic and ever-changing, constantly on the move through the darkness of the Universe. Sometimes, as seen in this spectacular Hubble image of Arp 256, galaxies can collide in a crash of cosmic proportions.

350 million light-years away in the constellation of Cetus (the Sea Monster), a pair of barred spiral galaxies have just begun a magnificent merger. This image suspends them in a single moment, freezing the chaotic spray of gas, dust and stars kicked up by the gravitational forces pulling the two galaxies together.

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Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA

Arp 256 is a stunning system of two spiral galaxies, about 350 million light-years away, in an early stage of merging. The image, taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, displays two galaxies with strongly distorted shapes and an astonishing number of blue knots of star formation that look like exploding fireworks. The star formation was triggered by the close interaction between the two galaxies.

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This video pans over NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observations of the system Arp 256, about 350 million light-years from Earth. The system consists of two spiral galaxies in an early stage of a merger. Though the two galaxies are still separated by a large distance, their shapes are already impressively disrupted by the gravitational forces.

Both galaxies show bright blue patches, which highlight regions of star formation. These regions also contain hot newborn stars. Like their distorted appearance, the bursts in star formation are also triggered by the gravitational interaction between the two galaxies.

 

This video zooms in on the two interacting spiral galaxies of the ARP 256 system, about 350 million light-years away. It starts with a view of the night sky, focused on the constellation of Cetus (the Sea Monster), as seen from the ground.

It then zooms through observations from the Digitized Sky Survey 2, and ends with a view of Arp 256 obtained with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.