Dance partners

ESO, 18 MAY 2020

The two performers in this European Southern Observatory image may be heading towards a collision, or perhaps swinging away from each other on the galactic dancefloor. Spiral galaxies NGC 5426 and NGC 5427, together known as Arp 271, have for millions of years danced around one another, their gravitational interaction evidenced by wisps of dust and young stars strung between them.