APOD 3.7

These two spiral galaxies appear to being pulling each other apart. Known as the mice because their tails are so long, it is believed that they have already passed through each other, and will continue to do so until they integrate. The long tails are created by a relative difference between gravitational pullson the near and far parts of each galaxy. Due to the large distances, the cosmic interractions take place in slow motion, nearly millions of years. NGC 4676 lies almost 300 million light-years away near the constellation Coma Berenices (Bernice's Hair), and are likely members of the Coma Cluster of Galaxies. There are also other galaxies scattered about in the distance of this large field view. This looks pretty amazing, seeing as these two spiral galaxies seem to be tugging at each other, like a tug of war, until they will eventually collide and combine. Its also pretty cool to see the other galaxies, small but visible, in the distance.