Galaxy clusters approximate this tense environment with a crowd of ellipticals and lenticulars. Star-crossed Lovers NGC 2207. Like lovers locked in a torrid embrace, galaxies sometimes gravitationally intertwine, leaving themselves forever altered by the experience. These encounters often create mergers, setting off starbirth fireworks. Oddball NGC 520.
Some galaxies are just weird.
Peculiar galaxies may be the survivors of ancient galactic encounters gone bad. They may be the victims of excessive disruption by gravitational tugs, star clusters, supernovae, or black holes. Pumped-up Athlete NGC 1316. They may look ordinary from the outside, but radio galaxies are high-energy objects that have exploded, hide black holes or eject invisible lobes of energy from their poles. Think of a flexing, pumped-up bodybuilder.