Interacting Galaxies ESO 69-6 in Triangulum Australe | Hubble

Interacting Galaxies ESO 69-6 in Triangulum Australe | Hubble

The galaxies of this beautiful interacting pair bear a resemblance to musical notes on a stave. Long tidal tails sweep out from the two galaxies. Gas and stars were stripped out and torn away from the outer regions of the galaxies. The presence of these tails is the unique signature of an interaction. ESO 69-6 is located in the constellation of Triangulum Australe, the Southern Triangle, about 650 million light-years away from Earth.

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 April 24, 2008.

Image Credit: NASA, European Space Agency, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)

Release Date: April 24, 2008

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