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Two distorted galaxies, looking like white-and-orange shells with streaks of white stars. The galaxies are above-right and below-left compared to each other. More spiral galaxies in the background near the bottom, two diffracted foreground stars on the right.

Interacting Galaxy UGC 8335

UGC 8335 is a strongly interacting pair of spiral galaxies resembling two ice skaters. The interaction has united the galaxies via a bridge of material and has yanked two strongly curved tails of gas and stars from the outer parts of their bodies. Both galaxies show dust lanes in their centers. UGC 8335 is located in the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear, about 400 million light-years from Earth. It is the 238th galaxy in Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.

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