Above and Beyond: Antennae Galaxies

 

 

Produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach.

 

All images, illustrations, and videos courtesy of NASA, ESA, and STScI except:

 

·       NGC 6822 image courtesy of the Local Group Galaxies Survey Team/NOAO/AURA/NSF

·       Taurus constellation drawing from Firmamentum Sobiescianum sive Uranographia by Johannes Hevelius, courtesy of the United States Naval Observatory

·       NGC 4565 image courtesy of the European Southern Observatory

·       Small Magellanic Cloud image courtesy of F. Winkler/Middlebury College, the MCELS Team, and NOAO/AURA/NSF

 

Written by Vanessa Thomas

Designed by John Godfrey 

Music courtesy of Association Production Music

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Two white, pink, and orange galaxies swirl around each other in a collision.

 

Text, Antennae GALAXIES. Two galaxies are engaged in a fiery collision that will ultimately lead to them merging into one enormous galaxy.

 

Remnants of the two galaxies' spiral arms and dust lanes are tossed about the accident site.

 

For now, the yellow cores of the two galaxies remain on opposite sides of this crash scene, but someday they will come together.

 

Gas and dust from the merging galaxies are smashing into each other, giving life to bright blue stars amidst brilliant pink nurseries.

 

Billions of new stars will be born before the merger is complete.