Click on the image for higher resolution (3.6 MB)
This image displays the galaxies NGC 4302 – seen edge-on – and NGC 4298, both located 55 million light-years away. The galaxy NGC 4298 is seen almost face-on, allowing us to see its spiral arms and the blue patches of ongoing star formation and young stars. In the edge-on disc of NGC 4302 huge swathes of dust are responsible for the mottled brown patterns, but a burst of blue to the left side of the galaxy indicates a region of extremely vigorous star formation.
At their closest points, the galaxies are separated from each other in projection by only around 7000 light-years. Given this very close arrangement, astronomers are intrigued by the galaxies' apparent lack of any significant gravitational interaction; only a faint bridge of neutral hydrogen gas – not visible in this image – appears to stretch between them. The long tidal tails and deformations in their structure that are typical of galaxies lying so close to each other are missing completely.
The image is a mosaic of four separate captures from Hubble, that have been stitched together to give this amazing field of view. Two different types of light emitted by the galaxies – visible and near-infrared – have been combined to give a rich and colourful image. This light was captured by Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3, one of the telescope's most advanced imaging instruments.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Mutchler (STScI)
Image enhancement: Jean-Baptiste Faure
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