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Field of yellow galaxies of various sizes and distances on a black background, with text and labels. Two larger galaxies are prominent. Centered is a galaxy with a bright core and faint spiral arms coming off its top and bottom. Its bright core is circled with a dotted line and labeled Quasar. To the upper right of the spiral galaxy, an arc of faint gas is outlined with a dotted line and labeled Tidal Tail. To the lower right of the spiral is the second prominent galaxy, with an apparent gap between its bright core and an oval of dust and gas surrounding it, labeled Ring Galaxy. At the lower right corner of the image a compass points to North at 5 o'clock and East at 2 o'clock. Text at the upper left corner of the image reads J0742+2704, HST, WFC3/IR. The Hubble filter is indicated with text reading F140W in the same yellow color used on for the stars and galaxies.

Hubble Compass Image of Quasar J0742+2704

Hubble captured intriguing hints of interaction, if not full merging, between galaxies including quasar J0742+2704. There is evidence of a distorted tidal tail, or a streamer of gas, that has been pulled out by the gravity of a nearby galaxy. The presence of a ring galaxy also suggests interaction: The distinctive shape of ring galaxies are thought to form when one galaxy passes through another, redistributing its contents into a central core circled by stars and gas. Astronomers will be doing further analysis of Hubble's detailed spectroscopic data, plus follow-up with other telescopes that can see different types of light, to confirm the distances of the galaxies and how they may be affecting one another.

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