We are seeing this galaxy as it was 2 billion years ago. This is an example of a collision between two galaxies of roughly equal size. An event such as this, known as a major merger, is thought to result in the formation of a single elliptical galaxy. This image may show the early stages of the accretion of a dwarf galaxy onto a large elliptical galaxy. The presence of a dark dust lane running through the elliptical galaxy, along with signs of shell-like debris nearby, provides circumstantial evidence that this galaxy has had a recent close encounter with another galaxy.
Several stars are also visible, and can easily be distinguished by cross-like diffraction spikes.
These stars are located in our own galaxy, the Milky Way. These stars are much closer to us than any of the galaxies seen in this image.