14 DAY TRIAL // Astronomers do have a soft heart after all, especially those at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), who manage the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This April, in order to mark the observatory's 21st anniversary, they snapped this amazing image of a massive cosmic rose.
The formation, a large group of colliding galaxies, is called Arp 273, and is one of the most photogenic systems of its type ever discovered din the Universe. The actual “flower” is the galaxy UGC 1810, which is obviously distorted by massive tidal forces exerted by its companion, UGC 1813 (bottom).
The galaxy at the bottom of the image displays telltale signs of extremely active stellar formation, especially at its core. This most likely happens because the gas in both these galaxies is being stirred up by their collision.
Speaking of which, the process is unlikely to conclude anytime soon. It will most likely take a few tens of millions of years until the two form a single, massive elliptical galaxy.