IC 883: IC 883 displays a very disturbed, complex central region with two tidal tails of approximately the same length emerging at nearly right angles: one diagonally to the top right of the frame and the other to the bottom right. The twin tidal tails suggest that IC 883 is the remnant of the merger of two gas-rich disc galaxies. The collision appears to have triggered a burst of star formation, indicated by a number of bright star clusters in the central region. IC 883 is 300 million light-years away toward the constellation of Canes Venatici, the Hunting Dogs. It is Number 193 in Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. This image is part of a large  collection of 59 images of merging galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on the occasion of its 18th anniversary on 24th April 2008.

Name: Arp 193, IC 883
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Category: AnniversaryGalaxies
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Distance: 300 million light years
Release date: 24 April 2008, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)

Markarian 273: Markarian 273 is a galaxy with a bizarre structure that somewhat resembles a toothbrush. The Hubble image shows an intricate central region and a striking tail that extends diagonally towards the bottom-right of the image. The tail is about 130,000 light-years long and is strongly indicative of a merger between two galaxies. Markarian 273 has an intense region of starburst, where 60 solar masses of new stars are born each year. Near-infrared observations reveal a nucleus with two components. Markarian 273 is one of the most luminous galaxies when observed in the infrared, and is located 500 million light-years away from Earth. This image is part of a large  collection of 59 images of merging galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on the occasion of its 18th anniversary on 24th April 2008.

Name: Markarian 273, UGC 8696
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Category: AnniversaryGalaxies
Constellation: Ursa Major
Distance: 500 million light years
Release date: 24 April 2008, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)

ESO 99-4: ESO 99-4 is a galaxy with a highly peculiar shape that is probably the remnant of an earlier merger process that has deformed it beyond visual recognition, leaving the main body largely obscured by dark bands of dust. ESO 99-4 lies in a rich field of foreground stars, in the constellation of Triangulum Australe, the Southern Triangle, about 400 million light-years away. This image is part of a large  collection of 59 images of merging galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on the occasion of its 18th anniversary on 24th April 2008.

Name: ESO 99-4
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Category: AnniversaryGalaxies
Constellation: Triangulum Australe
Distance: 400 million light years
Release date: 24 April 2008, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)

NGC 1614: The galaxy system NGC 1614 has a bright optical centre and two clear inner spiral arms that are fairly symmetrical. It also has a spectacular outer structure that consists principally of a large one-sided curved extension of one of these arms to the lower right, and a long, almost straight tail that emerges from the nucleus and crosses the extended arm to the upper right. The galaxy appears to be the result of a tidal interaction and the resulting merger of two predecessor systems. The system has a nuclear region of quasar-like luminosity, but shows no direct evidence for an active nucleus. It is heavily and unevenly reddened across its nucleus, while infrared imaging also shows a "ridge" of dust. The linear "tail" to the upper right and extended arms to the lower right are likely the remains of an interacting companion and the tidal plume(s) caused by the collision. NGC 1614 is located about 200 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Eridanus, the River. This image is part of a large  collection of 59 images of merging galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on the occasion of its 18th anniversary on 24th April 2008.

Name: NGC 1614
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Category: AnniversaryGalaxies
Constellation: Eridanus
Distance: 200 million light years
Release date: 24 April 2008, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)

NGC 6090: NGC 6090 is a beautiful pair of spiral galaxies with an overlapping central region and two long tidal tails formed from material ripped out of the galaxies by gravitational interaction. The two visible cores are approximately 10,000 light-years apart, suggesting that the two galaxies are at an intermediate stage in the merging process. The Hubble image reveals bright knots of newborn stars in the region where the two galaxies overlap. The upper component has a clear spiral structure viewed face-on while the component just below is seen edge-on with no spiral arms visible . NGC 6090 is located in the constellation of Draco, the Dragon, about 400 million light-years away from Earth. A number of fainter, and more distant, background galaxies is seen in the image. This system has much in common with the famous Antennae galaxies both in terms of how far the merger has progressed and in our viewing angle. This image is part of a large  collection of 59 images of merging galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on the occasion of its 18th anniversary on 24th April 2008.

Name: NGC 6090
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Category: AnniversaryGalaxies
Constellation: Draco
Distance: 400 million light years
Release date: 24 April 2008, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University) and G. Ostlin (Stockholm University)

IC 5298: This is a beautiful face-on spiral galaxy with two long arms extending from the central bulge and curving back amongst the scattered stars, gas and dust. A nearby smaller companion is linked by a bridge of matter to the principal galaxy in an interaction reminiscent of the famous Whirlpool Galaxy, M51. There is also a third faint, irregular galaxy, visible at the top of the image that is also linked by a bridge of matter and probably involved in the interaction. This image is part of a large  collection of 59 images of merging galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on the occasion of its 18th anniversary on 24th April 2008.

Name: IC 5298
Type: Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Interacting
Category: AnniversaryGalaxies
Constellation: Pegasus
Distance: 350 million light years
Release date: 24 April 2008, 15:00
Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration and A. Evans (University of Virginia, Charlottesville/NRAO/Stony Brook University)