This week's picture features Stephan's Quintet. These galaxies appeared to be locked gravitationally and doomed to go crashing into each other, and this is the case for most of these galaxies. the three in the upper part of the picture, the ones that appear more warped and closer to each other, are the ones that are locked together. the fourth galaxy, that is more blue and closer to the bottom of the picture, is only 40 million light years away while the others are a good 300 million light years away. Overall this picture tells a cosmic story that could be rare or common occurrence, but no matter what, very interesting and majestic to see unfold. With luck our great generations millions of years from now will look back at this picture and be able to compare it to their own pictures, and see just how much everything changed.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120225.html
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