NGC 4039 and NGS 4038 - The "Antennae" Colliding Galaxies

This false-color image composite from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveals hidden populations of newborn stars at the heart of the colliding "Antennae" galaxies. These 2 galaxies are located around 68 million light-years away and have been merging together for about the last 800 M years. The latest SST observations provide a snapshot of the tremendous burst of star formation triggered in the process of this collision, particularly at the site where the 2 galaxies overlap.