Cosmic Collisions Galore!

ABOUT THIS IMAGE:

MCG+08-11-002 is an odd-looking galaxy with a spectacular dark band of absorbing dust in front of the galaxy's center, making it resemble a "Black Eye". Scientists believe that it is the remnant of an earlier collision of two separate galaxies. This peculiar galaxy is at the center of a rich field of foreground stars, close to the plane of our own Milky Way galaxy. MCG+08-11-002 is about 250 million light-years away in the constellation of Auriga, the Charioteer.

This image is part of a large collection of 59 images of merging galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on the occasion of its 18th anniversary on 24th April 2008.

Object Name: MCG+08-11-002

Image Type: Astronomical

Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)

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