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Credit & Copyright: Debra Meloy Elmegreen
(Vassar College)
et al.,
& the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/ STScI/ NASA)
Explanation:
Billions of years from now, only one of these two galaxies will remain.
Until then, spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163 will slowly pull each other apart,
creating tides of matter, sheets of
shocked gas, lanes of
dark dust, bursts of
star formation, and streams of
cast-away stars.
Astronomers predict that NGC 2207, the larger galaxy on the left, will
eventually incorporate IC 2163, the smaller galaxy on the right.
In the most
recent encounter that peaked 40 million years ago,
the smaller galaxy is swinging around counter-clockwise,
and is now slightly behind the larger galaxy.
The space between stars is so vast that when
galaxies collide,
the stars in them usually do not collide.
& the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/ STScI/ NASA)
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: spiral galaxy - colliding galaxies - NGC 2207 - IC 2163
Publications with words: spiral galaxy - colliding galaxies - NGC 2207 - IC 2163
See also:
- Webb and Hubble: IC 5332
- APOD: 2026 February 4 Á Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: Wide Field
- Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1365 from Webb
- APOD: 2026 January 14 Á M51: The Whirlpool Galaxy
- IC 342: Hidden Galaxy in Camelopardalis
- NGC 253: Dusty Island Universe
- APOD: 2025 November 5 Á Spiral Galaxy NGC 3370 from Hubble