These reddish, almost hypnotizing “eyes” are actually two galaxies, captured by two NASA space telescopes. The James Webb Space Telescope shows the infrared radiation of galaxies, and the Hubble Space Telescope shows the visible and ultraviolet light emitted by them. The two galaxies named IC 2163 (left) and NGC 2207 (right) are currently passing each other and could even merge with each other in many millions of years.
Their bright red arms provide the first indication of a possible collision between the two galaxies. Material could have already collided there. As a result of this first flyby, the typical spiral arms of the galaxies have become distorted, which can be seen particularly in the sprawling left arm of IC 2163. This arm looks like an oversized eyeliner on the left eye of the galaxy and no longer like fine eyelashes. But even between the pair of eyes, the spiral arms are already blurring into a confusion of gas and stars.
Both galaxies are veritable star factories: every year they produce around two dozen stars the size of our sun. In comparison, the Milky Way only creates two or three new stars of this size. The star factories can be recognized in the image by the light blue and pink spots in the spiral arms, particularly in NGC 2207.
At the same time, many massive stars find their final resting place in IC 2163 and NGC 2207: In the past few decades, there have been seven supernovae – the brief, bright flash after the explosion of a massive star at the end of its life. In the Milky Way, this only happens about once every 50 years.