Hubble Interacting Galaxy IC 2810

IC 2810 is a disk galaxy viewed nearly edge-on. It is slightly disturbed by gravitational interaction with a smaller, dusty companion (located to the bottom of the image). The larger galaxy shows blue knots of star formation. Although the pair has no overlapping region at present, it is possible that the two will eventually collide in the future. IC 2810 is located in the constellation of Leo, the Lion, about 450 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.

About the data

The Hubble image was created using HST data from proposal 10592: A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)