VV 340: A pair of galaxies located about 450 million light years from Earth.
Caption: This composite image of VV 340 contains X-ray data from Chandra (purple)
and optical data from Hubble (red, green, blue). The two galaxies shown
here are in the early stage of an interaction that will eventually lead to
them merging in millions of years. The Chandra data shows that the northern
galaxy contains a rapidly growing supermassive black hole that is heavily
obscured by dust and gas. Data from other wavelengths shows that the two
interacting galaxies are evolving at different rates.
Scale: Image is 2.2 arcmin across (about 285,000 light years)
Chandra X-ray Observatory
ACIS Image
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