Hubble Images Impressive Colliding Galaxies

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope collected this image of the Arp 148 colliding galaxies three years ago. The view was released by astronomers on April 24, 2008, to coincide with the famous observatory's 18th anniversary.

It is a part of a larger set of images, which depicts 59 pairs of merging galaxies. These events occur when two galaxies cross paths, and come within each other's gravitational pull. In this particular case, the tearing and shearing effects are plainly visible.

One of the galaxies is shaped like a ring, whereas the other grew a very long tail. The duo is located about 500 million light-years away, in the constellation of Ursa Major. This particular image also features infrared data, which helps astronomers see through massive gas and dust clouds.