MCG+08-11-002

MCG+08-11-002 is an odd-looking galaxy with a spectacular dark band of absorbing dust in front of the galaxy's centre, 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 centre 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.