page_title: Mice galaxies
hierarchical_section_title: Mice galaxies
caption_attribution_description: The Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), the newest camera on NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, has captured a spectacular pair of galaxies engaged in a celestial dance of cat and mouse or, in this case, mouse and mouse. Located 300 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices, the colliding galaxies have been nicknamed "The Mice" because of the long tails of stars and gas emanating from each galaxy. Otherwise known as NGC 4676, the pair will eventually merge into a single giant galaxy.
context_page_description: The Mice galaxies are two spiral galaxies in the constellation Coma Berenices. About 290 million light-years away, we see them as they began to collide and merge. Their name refers to the long tails produced by tidal action, which is the relative difference between gravitational pulls on the near and far parts of each galaxy. They are members of the Coma cluster, so the galaxies may have collided before, and will continue colliding until they merge.
  The galaxies were photographed in 2002 by the Hubble Space Telescope.
context_section_description: The Mice galaxies (NGC 4676) are two spiral galaxies in the constellation Coma Berenices. About 290 million light-years away, we see them as they began to collide and merge. Their name refers to the long tails produced by tidal action, which is the relative difference between gravitational pulls on the near and far parts of each galaxy. They are members of the Coma cluster, so the galaxies may have collided before, and will continue colliding until they merge.
  The galaxies were photographed in 2002 by the Hubble Space Telescope.
caption: NGC 4676B (down-left) and NGC 4676A (up-right)
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