A smaller galaxy blasts through a larger one, like a mega-bullet, sowing disruption in its wake, in this image of Arp 148. The Hubble Space Telescope released 62 images of galaxies smashing into each other, to celebrate its 18th anniversary in space. Galactic collisions were more common in the early universe than they are today, and they're not jjust wanton destruction: they also turn on quasars and jumpstart the birth of stars. A hurtling galaxy would also make an awesome weapon, if you could figure out how to propel it. Click through for a gallery of our favorite galaxy-crashes from Hubble.
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The galaxy NGC 1275 has long commanded attention because it emits such strong radio waves and X-rays. And new images of the galaxy, at the heart of the Perseus cluster, paint a super-violent picture of events at its heart, thanks to the black hole at its exact center. This image combines optical imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope (red, green and blue) with X-ray data (soft violet) and radio waves (red). Click through to see X-ray and radio images separately.
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