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Posting images of galaxies in Halton Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies (1966). Automated account. Image curation, descriptions, typos, and most alt text by astronomer @kellylepo.bsky.social. See posts for credits and links to the original sources.

A grainy, black and white image of a pair of interacting spiral galaxies. In the center-right of the frame is the larger galaxy, a spiral galaxy seen face-on. It has a bright center crossed by filamentary, dark dust lanes. A ring of stars and star clusters circles the center, giving the inner part of the galaxy a shape that resembles an eye. Two long spiral arms emerge from the ring, dotted with bright star clusters and outlined by dust filaments, forming an S-shape. The lower arm trails off in a faint arc to the left. The upper arm appears to connect to its companion galaxy in the upper part of the frame. This galaxy is smaller and less well defined, but is still clearly a two-armed spiral with a bright center and wider, hazy arms. The black background of space is dotted with foreground stars. A few particularly bright stars with diffraction spikes are seen to the left of the center galaxy.
Two small galaxies appear on a sparse field of stars. At center left is NGC 2523, a face-on barred spiral. It has a bright yellow central core with a horizontal bar-shaped structure that connects to a thin ring. The area between the ring, core, and bar is dark. This central part looks like a steering wheel. The spiral arms originate at the ring and spiral outward counterclockwise. The arms are dotted by blue star clusters and shrouded in a haze of stars. At right center is NGC 2523B, an edge-on spiral. It has a yellow central bulge and a blue disk, which is crossed by a central brown dust lane.
Black and white image of a face-on spiral galaxy. I has a bright core and several spiral arms, dotted with stars and star clusters, that spiral clockwise around the core. They are crossed by dark dust lanes. The arms are well-defined but asymmetric. One arm curls from about 6 o'clock to 9 o'clock and is mostly separated from the body of the galaxy. Another arm follows more closely to the core, from about 6 o'clock to 12 o'clock. Another other arms cover the area from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock.
A pair of spiral galaxies. The upper galaxy is seen face-on. It has a bright center and short bar structure that transitions into a series of loosely-wound spiral arms, looking something like a cinnamon roll. The arms are dotted with blue star clusters and crossed by darker dust filaments. The lower galaxy is seen edge on. It has a somewhat puffy disk, seen as a wide, almost vertical, yellow line. Running down the middle is a dark dust lane with a few blue star clusters peaking out. In the middle of the frame, where the two galaxies appear to touch, is a bright foreground star with four diffraction spikes. Other distant galaxies and stars fill the black background of space.
A panel showing three views of a pair of merging galaxies. On the right the pair is seen in shades of blue. The galaxy on the bottom right has a single, large spiral arm curving out from the core counterclockwise, from the 9 o'clock to the 3 o'clock positions. The upper left galaxy has a bright blue-white core but only a bit of very faint material. A broad curtain of stars and gas connects the two galaxies’ cores. A few blue dots, which are stars and galaxies are scattered around the black background. In the middle panel, the same galaxies are shown in shades of red. The structures in the bottom right spiral galaxy are still prominent, but only the core of the upper left galaxy is still visible. In the right panel the two views are combined. The bottom right galaxy is a combination of red and blue, with the blue structures extending slightly wider than the red ones. The upper left galaxy and the background stars and galaxies are mostly blue. Text: Interacting galaxy pair Arp 107, NASA/JPL-Caltech/B. J. Smith (East Tennessee State University), Spitzer Space Telescope•IRAC, sig05-006
In the bottom right corner is a spiral galaxy with a bright pink-white central core encircled by two wispy arms that form a loose spiral around the core. The view is somewhat oblique, giving the galaxy an oval appearance. A long, thin, diffuse stream of blue stars and gas extends from the upper left side of the galaxy up to the upper left corner of the frame. Scattered across the background are hundreds of tiny smudges of light, which are stars and background galaxies. They vary slightly in size, shape, and color. Most appear in the shape of small dots, ovals, or lines. They come in different shades of red, blue and green.
A lower-res black and white image of three widely separated galaxies on the black background of space. The bright parts of the galaxy are overexposed, so you do not see very many interior details of the galaxies. The galaxy at the upper left is an edge-on spiral, seen as a wide, bright line with a dark dust lane going through the middle. The galaxy at lower left is a spiral galaxy, seen as a bright oval. The galaxy at lower right is a nearly face-on spiral, seen as a bright oval.
A grainy, black and white image of a face-on spiral galaxy. The galaxy appears somewhat small and slightly left of center in the frame. Beginning from the right edge of the central core, a single arm spirals counterclockwise from the 3 o'clock to the 12 o'clock positions. A second, even smaller spiral galaxy appears to the bottom left. Many white dots, which are stars or galaxies, are seen on the black background.
Three overlapping galaxies fill the frame. In the center are two large spiral galaxies. The larger one, at center-left, has a bright nucleus surrounded by a yellow-white core made of mostly older stars. At the edge of the core, two spiral arms emerge. One begins at about 6 o'clock and curves counter-clockwise to about 12 o'clock. The second begins at about 12 o'clock and curves down to about 8 o'clock, with a fainter part of the arm continuing on to about 5 o'clock. The arms are threaded with brown dust lanes. A few pink star-forming regions and blue star clusters dot the outer portion of the arm. The second spiral galaxy is at center-right. It has a bright center, and a well-defined bar and two spiral arms. Together, the bar and arms form an S-shape. Compared to its companion, this galaxy has less dust and more blue star clusters in its arms. The final galaxy in the triplet appears at the far left of the frame. It is much smaller than its companions and has a blobby, irregular appearance, although it could be a disrupted disk seen edge-on. It has a bright yellow-white center and an almost vertical line of blue star clusters. Dotted throughout the galaxy are pink star-forming regions. A few stars appear on the black background of space, including two large foreground stars, which appear above the center-right galaxy.
Arp 142, two interacting galaxies, observed in near- and mid-infrared light. At left is NGC 2937, nicknamed the Egg. Its center is brighter and whiter. There are six diffraction spikes atop its gauzy blue layers. At right is NGC 2936, nicknamed the Penguin. Its beak-like region points toward and above the Egg. Where the eye would be is a small, opaque yellow spiral. The Penguin’s distorted arms and orange dust lanes from the bird’s beak, back, and tail. The tail is wide and layered, like a beta fish’s tail. A semi-transparent blue hue traces the Penguin and extends from the galaxy, creating an upside-down U over top of both galaxies. At top right is another galaxy seen from the side, pointing roughly at a 45-degree angle. It is largely light blue. Its length appears approximately as long as the Egg’s height. One foreground star with large, bright blue diffraction spikes appears over top of the galaxy and another near it. The entire black background is filled with tiny, extremely distant galaxies.
A somewhat low-res image of a one-armed barred spiral galaxy. The bar, seen as a bright white line of stars and star clusters anchors the galaxy. Beginning at about the 3 o'clock position, a spiral arm wraps clockwise around the galaxy, ending at around 12 o'clock. The arm is formed from a haze of yellow-green stars and are dotted with bright blue-green star clusters. To its upper right is a smaller galaxy. It has a bright yellow center and a more diffuse disk or halo of stars. Dotted across the black background of space are small background galaxies and foreground stars.
A grainy, black and white image of a galaxy. In the upper left corner is a spiral galaxy with a bright central core encircled by two wispy arms that form a loose spiral. The view is somewhat oblique, giving the galaxy an oval appearance. A long, thin, diffuse stream extends from the lower right side of the galaxy down to the lower right corner of the image. In the background there are a few circular dots, which are stars, and smudgy objects, which may be background galaxies.
A greyscale image of a spiral galaxy. The faint galaxy has a central bar and two spiral arms that wind clockwise around the galaxy. The arms are crossed by dark dust lanes and dotted with bright star clusters. The image has some detector noise and lines from cosmic rays, which have not been removed.
A grainy, black and white image of a group of interacting galaxies which resembles a question mark. At the top of the frame, a somewhat messy spiral shape formed by a pair of merging galaxies forms the top part of the question mark. At the bottom of the frame is another galaxy, which forms the dot of the question mark. A string of star clusters, seen as large dots, connects the galaxies, forming the straight part of the question mark. A few white dots, which are stars, are seen on the black background.
Two similar-looking spiral galaxies take up most of the frame. They both have bright, yellow-white central cores and well-defined spiral arms dotted with blue star clusters and dark dust lanes. NGC 5427 is a nearly face-on spiral galaxy at lower left. NGC 5426 is a more oblique galaxy at upper right. The two spiral arms on the upper side of NGC 5426 appear as a bridge that connects with NGC 5427. The black background of space is dotted with stars and small background galaxies.
Two side-by-side galaxies fill the image. The left galaxy is a bright spiral galaxy bursting with blue star clusters, crossed by dark brown dust lanes. The right galaxy is a lenticular galaxy. It bright yellow-ish white center that gradually becomes more transparent, emitting a hazy glow. Distant stars and galaxies dot the background.
A pair of interacting spiral galaxies. The galaxy in the center appears face-on with a bright center, surrounded by swirls of dark dust filaments. The outer areas of the galaxy are filled with a haze of pale stars. To the left is its companion galaxy. The disk of this galaxy is seen at an angle, tilted so that it appears to be an oval rather than a circle. Dark dust filaments somewhat obscure the spiral structures in its disk, which is filled with star clusters. At the bottom left edge of this galaxy, the end of a spiral arm or a tidal tail appears to extend downwards, connecting to the side of its companion. At the top edge of the central galaxy is what appears to be a faint tidal tail, dotted with star clusters, perhaps a continuation of the tail from the companion galaxy. The black background of space is dotted with foreground stars and tiny background galaxies.
A grainy, black and white image of three interacting galaxies that form a roughly horizontal line. The galaxy on the right is a face-on barred spiral. Surrounding the bar is a ring of stars. Emerging from the ends of the bar are two spiral arms that form a backward S-shape. The middle galaxy is seen as a roughly horizontal oval. It overlaps with the other two galaxies to its left and right. The galaxy on the left is perhaps a very disturbed spiral. One spiral arm begins at the bottom of the bar, and then rises up a ridiculous amount, forming a vertical line that is much taller than the galaxies. The black background of space is dotted with a few foreground stars.
A nearly face-on barred spiral galaxy anchored by its central region. It has a bright yellow circular area surrounded by a lighter yellow diagonal bar structure made of a haze of stars, which forms an angled oval toward the top. Two distinct spiral arms made of a haze of white stars, blue star clusters, and brown filamentary dust lanes start at the center and extend outward, rotating clockwise. The galaxy is tilted slightly, so it forms an oval shape, rather than a circle. The background of space is black. There are some dots of light surrounding the galaxy, which are foreground stars.
Frame is split down the middle: Hubble’s visible light image at left, and Webb’s near-infrared image at right. Both show the Egg at left and the Penguin at right. In Hubble’s view, the Penguin is highly detailed, with a bright blue beak, body, and tail that is covered in an arc of bright brown dust. The Egg, to its left, appears bright, gleaming yellowish white. At top right is another galaxy seen from the side, about as long as the Egg’s height. Dozens of galaxies and stars appear in the background. Webb’s near-infrared image shows the Penguin’s beak, head, and back in shades of pink. It’s tail-like region is more diffuse, and a mix of lighter pinks and blues. The Egg appears slightly larger in blue layers. A semi-transparent blue forms an upside down U over top of both galaxies. At top right, an edge-on galaxy has many more pinpricks of light, which are stars. Thousands of galaxies and stars appear in the background. Some galaxies are shades of orange, while others are white.
A grainy, black and white image of two galaxies connected by a long, thin stream of gas and stars that form a vertical line. The first galaxy, at the bottom of the frame, appears to be a disturbed spiral galaxy. It has a swirling disk made of a haze of stars accented by faint dust lanes. A long, thin, translucent line, made of a haze of stars and gas, connects the top of the top galaxy to the bottom of its companion above. The second galaxy is near the top of the frame. It is roughly circular and has a bright, center that gradually fades out and becomes more translucent near its edges. The thin line of stars and gas appears to emerge from the top of the galaxy, arcing slightly down as it exits. A few white dots, which are stars, are seen on the black background of space.
A galaxy with a line-like nucleus and a horseshoe-shaped arc above it. The horseshoe points down, and the nucleus is in the center of the arc. It looks like an upside down power symbol, ⏻. The nucleus and horseshoe are dotted with bright blue star clusters and dark dust lanes.
Two galaxies that are in the process of merging sit side by side. The first, to the left, shows a vertical bar structure, surrounded by a haze of older, yellow stars. The galaxy's core is partially obscured by a swirl of dark brown dust. The galaxy overlaps with its companion to the right, and there is a small area of blue star clusters where the two galaxies meet. The galaxy on the right is a disturbed spiral galaxy. The remnants of two spiral arms form a backward S-shape. The right arm continues into a large fish-hook shaped tidal tail. The tail trails off to the right, then curves over the spiral galaxy and extends all the way to its companion galaxy on the left. The tail is dotted with blue star clusters. The portion of the tail that curves upwards, the bend in the fish hook, is partially obscured with brown clumps of dust.
A somewhat low-res image of a face-on spiral galaxy in shades of yellow, orange, and red. From a small central core, several arms spiral clockwise. They are defined by a network of filamentary dust lanes, which look somewhat like a cross section of a nautilus. The arms are dotted with blue-green star-forming regions. One spiral arm curls from about 6 o'clock to 9 o'clock and is mostly separated from the body of the galaxy. Another arm curves from 1 o'clock to 6 o'clock. The other arms are less distinct.
A distorted galaxy with looping tidal tails. In the center of the frame is a galaxy with a bright yellow center. A dark brown dust lane divides the bright center of the galaxy in two. It's hard to tell if this dust is blocking a continuous bright area or if there are two distinct nuclei. The disk of the galaxy surrounds the center, probably seen nearly edge-on, made of a haze of older yellow stars. At the left and right edges of the disk are blue clusters of younger stars. One stream of gas and stars, a tidal tail, starts at the left edge of the disk, loops under the galaxy, and connects with the bottom right edge of the disk. A second stream of gas begins at the top right edge of the disk, loops over the galaxy, and then connects to the top left edge of the disk. Together, these two tidal tails form a rough ring shape. Another fainter tidal tail starts at the apex of the top arc and continues diagonally up and to the left. A smaller galaxy, an almost edge-on spiral, is below and to the left of the central galaxy.
In the center of the frame are two merging galaxies that form a C-shape that looks a little like a curled up shrimp. In the center of the C, or the body of the shrimp, is the remnants of one galaxy's nucleus, partially obscured by a swirl of dust and blue star clusters. At the top of the C, or the head of the shrimp, is the second galaxy nucleus. A haze of older yellow stars and dust appears above the second nucleus. At the other end of the remnant, a thin tail of blue star clusters trails off to the right. At the end of the tail, another dusty haze of yellow stars, curves back upwards towards the shrimp's "head". Two other spiral galaxies appear separated from the merging galaxies in the lower left corner of the frame. The black background of space is dotted with tiny background galaxies and foreground stars.
A greyscale image of a galaxy. The galaxy's stars and gas form a loose two-armed spiral with a central bar. In the background are a few small, distant galaxies. In the bottom right is a tiny background two-armed barred spiral galaxy. In the foreground are a few stars with Hubble's four-pointed diffraction spikes.
A nearly face-on distributed spiral galaxy a bright center and two clear, blue-white inner spiral arms that are fairly symmetrical. It also has a spectacular outer structure that consists principally of a large one-sided curved extension of one of these arms to the lower right, and a long, almost straight tail that emerges from the nucleus and crosses the extended arm to the upper right. These outer arms are made of a haze of dust and yellow stars, and are dotted with blue star clusters.
Two similar-looking spiral galaxies take up most of the frame. They both have bright, yellow-white central cores and well-defined spiral arms dotted with blue star clusters and dark dust lanes. NGC 5427 is a nearly face-on spiral galaxy at top. NGC 5426 is a more oblique galaxy at bottom. The two spiral arms from NGC 5426 appear to reach upward and act as a bridge that connects with NGC 5427. The black background of space is dotted with stars and small background galaxies.
A group of three interacting spiral galaxies which resembles a question mark. At the top of the frame are two spiral galaxies in the process of merging. One of these galaxies has a bright yellow core connected to a short bar and two loose spiral arms. This forms a S-shape. Above this is another circular, yellow galaxy core which overlaps with the top spiral arm of the S-shaped galaxy. On the outer edges of the spiral arms are blue star clusters. Together these form the top curved half of the question mark. To the right of the S-shaped galaxy is a small, relatively normal-looking spiral galaxy, which is likely in the background. At the bottom of the frame is another large spiral galaxy. This galaxy has a bright core and somewhat ill-defined spiral arms which wind counterclockwise around the core. On the bottom half of the galaxy are blue star clusters. This forms the dot of the question mark. Connecting the merging galaxies at the top of the frame and the spiral at the bottom of the frame is a string of blue super star clusters, seen as large blue dots. This forms the straight part of the question mark. On the black background of space are several yellow and red dots, which are background galaxies.
A close up, face-on view of a barred spiral galaxy. The large central bar structure is made of a haze of yellowish orange stars arranged in an oval that is wider than it is long. Beginning from the left edge of the bar a single arm spirals counterclockwise from the 9 o'clock to the 3 o'clock positions. It is made up primarily of clusters of blue stars.
A pair of interacting spiral galaxies. The galaxy in the center appears face-on with a bright yellow center, surrounded by swirls of brown dust filaments. The outer areas of the galaxy are filled with a haze of pale yellow stars. Above and slightly to the right is its companion galaxy. The disk of this galaxy is seen at an angle, tilted so that it appears to be an oval rather than a circle. Dark brown dust filaments somewhat obscure the spiral structures in its disk, which is filled with blue star clusters and pink star forming regions. At the left edge of this galaxy, the end of a spiral arm or a tidal tail appears to extend downwards, connecting to the top of its companion. At the right edge of the central galaxy is what appears to be a faint tidal tail, dotted with blue star clusters, perhaps a continuation of the tail from the companion galaxy. The black background of space is dotted with foreground stars and tiny background galaxies.
A pair of spiral galaxies, one seen nearly edge-on and one seen face-on. The face-on spiral to the right has a bright yellow central core and two well-defined spiral arms that loop counterclockwise around the galaxy. The inner parts of the spiral arms are yellow, while the outer arms fan out into blue stars and star clusters. One spiral arm begins at about 6 o'clock, curls around to the top of the galaxy at 12 o'clock and then ends at the bottom of the galaxy around 6 o'clock. The second arm begins at around 9 o'clock and curls around, ending at the top of the galaxy around 12 o'clock. The nearly edge-on galaxy to the left overlaps at the top of the face-on galaxy, appearing like a continuation of the face-on galaxy's second spiral arm. It's disk is tilted, so it appears as a long, thin oval rather than a circle. The galaxy also has a yellow central core and an outer edge dotted with blue star clusters. In the black background of space are a few other colorful dots, which are foreground stars or background galaxies.
A somewhat grainy image of a pair of interacting spiral galaxies. The two galaxies appear to be almost touching, making a V shape. The galaxy on the left is seen edge-on. A bright central core bulges out slightly and is crossed by a dark dust lane. The disk of the galaxy is seen as a line, dotted with blue star clusters. A hazy bit of material rises almost perpendicular to the disk at the upper end, the top of the V, and points towards its companion galaxy. The right galaxy is seen face-on. It has a bright yellow core and horizontal bar, which is crossed by dark dust lanes. Two spiral arms emerge from the ends of the bar, creating a sideways S shape. They are dotted by teal star clusters. Additional blue stars and star clusters fill in the disk and a swirl of hazy material connects back to its companion galaxy. Other distant galaxies and stars fill the black background of space.
A chaotic, swirling galaxy merger remnant fills the frame. At the center is a cream-colored cat's eye shape, surrounded by a swirling haze of gas and stars. Emerging from this roughly circular central region are large tidal tails that loop around the galaxy several times. They look a little like a diagram of electrons orbiting an atom at different angles. The tidal tails are a translucent yellow-white color on their edges with a line of blue in their centers. The right side of one of the inner loops is streaked with red gas and dark brown dust. The black background of space is dotted with stars and small background galaxies.
A galaxy merger forms an amorphous shape, with a band of dark dust silhouetted on top of blue white stars. In the center of the frame is a haze of stars that forms a squished X-shape. The stars are densest in the center, becoming a faint, fuzzy halo near the edges. A thick, dark band of brown dust crosses the center of the frame, curving slightly downwards. A few tiny background galaxies and foreground stars are seen near the edges of the frame.
A grainy, black-and-white image of two ring-like galaxies. On the left is a galaxy with a bright core surrounded by a ring. There is a gap between the core and ring where the black background of space shows through. The galaxy is tilted so that the circular ring appears oval-shaped. On the right is a another circular galaxy, made mostly of a ring of bright dots, which are star clusters. The center of the ring is empty and the black background of space shows through. Together, the galaxies look like the number 10.
A grainy, black and white image of two galaxies. Both are overexposed, so that there is no detail apparent in the interiors of the galaxies. At the center of the frame, running diagonally from lower right to upper left is a disk galaxy seen edge-on. To the left, aligned with the bottom edge of the disk galaxy, is a second smaller galaxy that is irregular but roughly circular. A faint line extends upwards from where the two galaxies meet. A few white dots, which are stars, are seen on the black background.
A grainy, black and white image of a pair of interacting galaxies. The large barred spiral on the right takes up about half of the frame. It has a bright center that transitions into a nearly horizontal bar structure. Two spiral arms begin at the ends of the bar. Together the arms and the bar form an S-shape. A tear-dropped shaped loop surrounds the bar and connects the inner parts of the two spiral arms. The bottom spiral arm extends much farther than the upper spiral arm. Near the bottom of the frame the bottom arm curves back up and points to its companion galaxy. In the center left, above the larger galaxy, is a much smaller galaxy, seen as a featureless oval. The black background of space is filled with dots, which are foreground stars and background galaxies.
A galaxy with a line-like nucleus and a horseshoe-shaped arc above it. The horseshoe points down, and the nucleus is in the center of the arc. It looks like an upside down power symbol, ⏻. Both the nucleus and the horseshoe are fuzzy, yellow, and dotted with star clusters, which appear as blurry blue dots.
A somewhat low-res image of a pair of widely-space interacting spiral galaxies. The galaxy in the top left has a bright disk seen at a slight angle so that it appears oval-shaped. Its spiral arms are fainter and hard to see. A thin, blue, clumpy line extends above the galaxy, perpendicular to its disk. The galaxy in the lower right has a strong bar and two spiral arms, forming a distinct S shape. The bar is brighter and yellow-ish. The arms are bluer and dotted with teal star clusters. Faint streams of blue material extend outwards from the ends of the spiral arms. The top stream almost connects with the galaxy in the top left. Several foreground stars are seen as bright points with eight diffraction spikes. The black background of space is dotted with stars and small background galaxies
The frame is dominated by three spiral galaxies in shades of yellow and blue. The largest is at the center of the frame. The disk of the galaxy is tilted, so that it appears oval-shaped, with the long axis running diagonally from upper right to lower left. It has a bright yellow center, surrounded by a ring structure. Emerging from the ring are two spiral arms, defined by blue star clusters. The arms for a tiled, backward S-shape. At the bottom left is a smaller face-on spiral galaxy. Unlike the other two galaxies in the group, this galaxy does not appear distorted. It has a small core, surrounded by loose spiral arms that are filled with blue star clusters. At upper left is a distorted spiral galaxy seen nearly edge-on. Its disk is warped, forming a thin, nearly vertical, backward S-shape.
A chaotic, swirling galaxy merger remnant fills the frame. At the center is a white cat's eye shape, surrounded by a haze of gas and stars. Emerging from this roughly circular central region are large, faint, white tidal tails that loop around the galaxy several times. One long tail emerges at about 9 o'clock and travels vertically up from the galaxy. The inner loops are streaked with purple gas and dark brown dust. The black background of space is dotted with stars and small background galaxies.
Two similar-looking spiral galaxies take up most of the frame. They both have bright, yellow-white central cores and well-defined spiral arms dotted with blue star clusters and dark dust lanes. NGC 5427 is a nearly face-on spiral galaxy at left. NGC 5426 is a more oblique galaxy at right. The two spiral arms on the upper side of NGC 5426 appear as a bridge that connects with NGC 5427. The black background of space is dotted with stars and small background galaxies.
A pair of interacting galaxies. On the right is a nearly face-on spiral. It has a small, bright central core, surrounded by a haze of yellow stars. Surrounding this is a ring of blue stars, dotted by blue star clusters. Two wide spiral arms emerge from the ring, crossed by dark brown dust lanes. They fan out, almost connecting back to the main body of the galaxy. A line of blue star clusters begins at the left spiral arm and arcs around the body of the galaxy. The left arm extends out connecting to its companion galaxy at left. The left galaxy is an edge-on disk, seen as a wide, angled line of yellowish stars. A stream of blue stars, star clusters, and gas appears to come from its companion's spiral arm and wrap one and a half times around the disk galaxy. A third galaxy, a smaller edge-on spiral, is seen to the left of the disk galaxy. The black background of space is dotted with a few foreground stars and tiny background galaxies.
A pair of galaxies sit side by side. On the left is a roughly circular lenticular galaxy. It has a bright yellow-white center and is surrounded by a series of concentric shells, which appear as arc-like glowing features with sharp outer edges. Swooping vertically across the galaxy is a stream of translucent blue material, which also forms a horizontal line blow the galaxy. On the right is a smaller spiral galaxy. It has a yellow-white center that transitions into spiral arms that are dotted with blue star clusters. The black background of space is dotted with many stars and a few small background galaxies.
A pair of interacting galaxies. The galaxy on the left is likely an edge-on disk galaxy, appearing as a slightly warped, fuzzy, white horizontal line with dust filaments at its center. The galaxy on the right is a ring galaxy, appearing as a blue circular ring, dotted with blue star clusters, that also has its center partially filled in with blue star clusters. The two galaxies overlap so that the right end of the edge-on galaxy intersects with the ring galaxy's center. It looks a bit like a big blue hand holding the Enterprise in a classic episode of Star Trek.
Five galaxies appear close to each other in the sky. At upper left, a spiral galaxy is tilted, appearing wider than it is tall. It has a glowing yellow-white center and brown dust trails that spiral clockwise around it. Above the center is a large elliptical galaxy. Its round, glowing yellow-white center is surrounded by a fuzzy halo that fades away from the core. Toward the bottom right are three galaxies that appear to touch. The largest is in the center: a nearly vertical, edge-on spiral galaxy. Its glowing yellow-white core is mostly obscured by reddish-brown dust trails dotted with blue stars. To its bottom left is a smaller, tilted spiral galaxy with a glowing white center. Brown dust trails are dotted with blue stars. One spiral arm appears to touch the vertical galaxy to its right. At the spiral’s bottom right is a lenticular galaxy with a glowing central core in the middle of a hazy white disk, appearing almost face-on. It seems to touch the large spiral galaxy above it.
Against the black background of space, which has distant stars and galaxies scattered across, is a large spiral galaxy filled with streaks of blue and pink. The galaxy has warped spiral arms that wrap clockwise around its bright yellow core. Toward the upper right, one of its arms appears to be breaking away from the rest of the galaxy.
A grainy, black and white image of a two-armed spiral galaxy with a bright core. The upper spiral arm forks into two as it curves around the top of the galaxy. Many white dots, which are stars, are seen on the black background.
A two-panel image. The left panel is labeled Arp 285 GALEX. A scale bar marks 1 arcminute, which is about 1/8 the width of the frame. The panel shows a low-res image of a pair of interacting galaxies in shades of grey. The galaxy in the top left is oval-shaped and has a line extends above the galaxy, extending perpendicular to its disk. The galaxy in the lower right has two spiral arms. It has a brighter patch off-center in the core near the lower spiral arm. A bright foreground star appears as a red dot with four diffraction spikes in the upper right. The right panel is labeled Arp 285 SDSS and has a similar 1 arcminute scale bar. It shows the same galaxies at the same scale and is higher resolution. The galaxy in the top left has a bright yellow disk seen at a slight angle so that it appears oval-shaped. It's spiral arms are fainter and hard to see detail. A thin, blue, clumpy line extends above the galaxy, perpendicular to its disk. The galaxy in the lower right has a strong bar and two spiral arms, forming a distinct S shape. The bar is brighter and yellow-ish. The arms are bluer. A bright foreground star appears as a dot in the upper right.
A greyscale image of a spiral galaxy. The faint galaxy has a central bar and loose spiral arms that are not very well defined, which arc clockwise around the bar. The arms are dotted with bright star clusters.
Two spiral galaxies that resemble a rose sitting on top of a stem The first galaxy spiral occupies the top half of the frame and appears mostly face-on. It is oval shaped with a bright yellowish core streaked with dark dust lanes. Two spiral arms containing blue clumps of new stars wrap widely counterclockwise around the core, with a large empty gap between them. The second galaxy appears about half as long as the first and is seen much more edge-on. It is tilted from 7 o'clock to 2 o'clock and has one arm on each end that extends outward, with the left arm warping downward and the right arm warping upward. The second galaxy is similar to the first in color, with a yellowish core, bluish spiral arms, and dark dust lanes throughout.
A low-res black-and-white image of a pair of galaxies. A small bright white vertical line and a fainter circular object are at the center of the frame. A few white dots, which are stars, fill the black background of space.
A grainy, black-and-white image of a pair of merging galaxies. One is seen face-on and is circular in shape. There is no detail in the center. The other galaxy is seen as a disk tilted away from the viewer and it is partially warped. It has a rough American football shape. Various small galaxies and stars cover the scene, seen as fuzzy white points. The background of space is black.
Three overlapping galaxies fill the frame. In the center are two large spiral galaxies. The larger one, at center-left, has a bright nucleus surrounded by a yellow core made of mostly older stars. At the edge of the core, several spiral arms emerge. The arms are threaded with brown dust lanes and dotted with blue star clusters. The second spiral galaxy is at center-right. It has a bright center, bar, and poorly-defined spiral arms. Compared to its companion, this galaxy has less dust and more blue star clusters in its arms. The final galaxy in the triplet appears above the other two within their spiral arms. It is much smaller than its companions and and has a well defined central bar. It's hard to distinguish its spiral arms because they are backlit by the other two galaxies. A few stars appear on the black background of space, including a large foreground star, which appears above the center-right galaxy.
Two spiral galaxies take up most of the frame. At left is a more oblique galaxy that has a bright yellow core and fainter spiral arms dotted with pink star forming regions. At right is a nearly face-on spiral galaxy. It has a smaller yellow core and two well-defined spiral arms dotted with blue star clusters and pink star forming regions. The upper arm forks in two near its end. Near the center of the galaxy, the arms are crossed with brown dust lanes. The spiral arms of the two galaxies appear to form a faint bridge connecting the pair. The black background of space is dotted with stars and small background galaxies.
A color image of three widely separated galaxies. The galaxy at the upper left, NGC 3628, is an edge-on spiral, seen as a thin rectangular shape with a light brown dust lane going through the middle. A translucent, curved plume, about two times the length of the galaxy trails off to the left. The galaxy at lower left, M 66, is a face-on barred spiral galaxy, with a bright central bar and two spiral arms, which form an S-shape. The galaxy at lower right, M 65, is a nearly face-on spiral, with a bright nucleus and curving dust lanes. The image is very dense with foreground stars. A scale bar marking 50 kpc takes up about 1/6 of the width of the image.
A grainy, black and white image of two interacting galaxies. The top galaxy is seen edge-on, forming an almost vertical line. It's bright central core extends into a bridge of stars and star clusters that connects to it's companion below. The bottom galaxy is a disrupted spiral seen almost face-on. It has two spiral arms that are dotted with bright star clusters. A third spiral overlaps partially with the top spiral arm and loops counter-clockwise down, extending beyond the galaxy in a faint trail. Just off frame is what appears to be a bright star, which shines light into the left half of the image and creates a circular reflection artifact on the right half of the image. A few white dots, which are stars, are seen on the black background.
A greyscale image of a spiral galaxy and its smaller companion. The frame is dominated by the large spiral. It has a small core that sits in the middle of a spiral structure. The one spiral arm begins at about 9 o'clock and curves clockwise around the galaxy, completing a full circle. The arm is unusually thick, fanning out with many bright star clusters. To the left of the spiral is a smaller galaxy, seen almost edge-on. It appears as an elongated oval dotted with stars. The long axis of the oval is almost horizontal. Connecting the two galaxies is a faint bridge of gas and stars. A few smaller background galaxies dot the black background of space. The image has some detector noise which have not been removed.