Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Acknowledgments: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin

This observation from the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory shows the result of a truly spectacular galactic collision. The elliptical galaxy NGC 5291 — the hazy oval cloud at the center of this image — was struck by a careening rogue galaxy over 300 million years ago. The aftermath of this cataclysmic collision is a ring of galactic debris — visible as the tenuous luminous clouds spreading left and right from the golden oval of NGC 5291. This image also shows more gentle galactic interactions — NGC 5291 is interacting sedately with the unusually curved galaxy to the right of it, which is known as the Seashell.

Provider: NOIRLab

Image Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/iotw2051b/

Curator: NSF's NOIRLab, Tucson, AZ, USA

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License