JWST captures colliding spiral galaxies

Mid-infrared observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, shown in white, gray, and red, are combined here with X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, highlighted in blue. Together, these different wavelengths reveal a detailed and layered view of a pair of colliding spiral galaxies, captured in an image released on Dec. 1, 2025.

The galaxies passed close to one another millions of years ago, their mutual gravity distorting their spiral arms and triggering energetic processes that can be traced across the electromagnetic spectrum. Webb’s infrared data helps illuminate warm dust and regions of star formation, while Chandra’s X-ray observations point to extremely hot gas and high-energy activity created by the interaction.

Although the encounter was brief on cosmic timescales, its consequences will unfold over billions of years. Gradually, the two spiral galaxies will lose energy and be drawn together, eventually merging into a single, larger galaxy, reshaped by their long and complex gravitational dance.