Beautiful Eyes

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 August 25, 2011

A pair of galaxies known collectively as "the eyes" flutter through the constellation Virgo. They are about 50 million light-years away, and are members of a large assemblage of galaxies known as the Virgo Cluster. The galaxy at top, NGC 4438, has been disrupted by a close encounter with another galaxy. The passage stripped out great streamers of bright gas and dark dust, and triggered the birth of millions of new stars, which form glowing blue streaks and clouds at left. The other member of the encounter could have been the galaxy at right, NGC 4435, which has a brilliant nucleus but little gas and dust. The encounter could have stripped away its gas and dust while triggering the birth of many new stars. Hundreds of more-distant galaxies are visible in the background of the image, which was produced by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile. [ESO/Gems Project]