X-ray & Optical Images of NGC 1232
A massive multimillion-degree cloud of gas has been revealed in X-ray data from Chandra that have been combined with optical data from the Very Large Telescope in this composite image. The hot gas cloud is likely caused by a collision between a dwarf galaxy and a much larger galaxy called NGC 1232. If confirmed, this discovery would mark the first time such a collision has been detected only in X-rays, and could have implications for understanding how galaxies grow through similar collisions.
(Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Huntingdon Inst. for X-ray Astronomy/G.Garmire, Optical: ESO/VLT)