Galaxies jumelles dans la Vierge
Spiral galaxy pair NGC 4567 and NGC 4568 share
this
sharp cosmic vista with lonely elliptical galaxy NGC 4564.
All are members of the large
Virgo Galaxy Cluster.
With their classic spiral arms, dust lanes, and star clusters,
the eye-catching spiral pair is also known as the Butterfly Galaxies.
Very close together, the galaxy twins don't seem to
be too distorted by gravitational tides.
Their giant molecular clouds are
known
to be colliding though and
are likely fueling the formation of massive star clusters.
The galaxy twins are about 52 million light-years
distant,
while their bright cores appear separated by about 20,000 light-years.
Of course, the spiky foreground stars lie within our own Milky Way.