When galaxies collide

This delicate smudge in deep space is far more turbulent than it first appears. Known as IRAS 14348-1447 — a name derived in part from that of its discoverer, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS for short) — this celestial object is actually a combination of two gas-rich spiral galaxies. This doomed duo approached one another too closely in the past, gravity causing them to affect and tug at each other and slowly, destructively, merge into one . The image was taken by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) .

IRAS 14348-1447 is located over a billion light-years away from us. It is one of the most gas-rich examples known of an ultraluminous infrared galaxy , a class of cosmic objects that shine characteristically — and incredibly — brightly in the infrared part of the spectrum . Almost 95% of the energy emitted by IRAS 14348-1447 is in the far-infrared!