The Antennae Galaxies

About This Photograph

The Antennae are two colliding spiral galaxies in the constellation of Corvus about 45 million light years from Earth. Rich in gas and dust, the collision between these two galaxies has given rise to a burst of star formation, evidenced by the patches of reddish ionized hydrogen gas and copious number of young, hot blue stars near their centers. Meanwhile, two long streams of stars extend into intergalactic space in opposite directions, flung away from their host galaxies by this violent encounter. This is perhaps similar to what the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy will undergo when they collide sometime between 4 and 5 billion years from now.