ABOUT THIS IMAGE:

NGC 454 is galaxy pair comprising a large red elliptical galaxy and an irregular gas-rich blue galaxy. The system is in the early stages of an interaction that has severely distorted both components. The three bright blue knots of very young stars to the left of the two main components are probably part of the irregular blue galaxy. Although the dust lanes that stretch all the way to the center of the elliptical galaxy suggest that gas has penetrated that far, no signs of star formation or nuclear activity are visible. The pair is approximately 164 million light-years away.

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: NGC 454

Image Type: Astronomical

Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and M. Stiavelli (STScI)

Technical facts about this image:

NEWS RELEASE IMAGES

The above image is part of a montage:

Montage Image: Cosmic Collisions Galore! Image Type: Astronomical PRC2008-16a

Hubble Interacting Galaxy Arp 148 Image Type: Astronomical

Hubble Interacting Galaxy UGC 9618 Image Type: Astronomical

Hubble Interacting Galaxy Arp 256 Image Type: Astronomical

Hubble Interacting Galaxy NGC 6670 Image Type: Astronomical

Hubble Interacting Galaxy NGC 6240 Image Type: Astronomical

Hubble Interacting Galaxy ESO 593-8 Image Type: Astronomical

Hubble Interacting Galaxy UGC 8335 Image Type: Astronomical

Hubble Interacting Galaxy NGC 6786 Image Type: Astronomical

Hubble Interacting Galaxy NGC 17 Image Type: Astronomical

Hubble Interacting Galaxy ESO 77-14 Image Type: Astronomical

Hubble Interacting Galaxy NGC 6050 Image Type: Astronomical

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