Major Merger

Major Merger

This Hubble image of NGC 4676, nickednamed “The Mice,” illustrates an ongoing major merger between two colliding galaxies of similar mass. The gravitational forces between the two galaxies have produced two long tails of gas and stars stretching away from the galaxies, as well as a bridge of stripped material between the galaxies. Credit: NASA, H. Ford (JHU), G. Illingworth (UCSC/LO), M.Clampin (STScI), G. Hartig (STScI), the ACS Science Team, and ESA