Happy Holidays 2020

In a year like no other, we wish you the best this holiday season and a prosperous, peaceful 2021!

This observation from the SMARTS 0.9-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory shows the result of a truly spectacular galactic collision. The elliptical galaxy NGC 5291 — the hazy oval cloud at the center of this image — was struck by a careening rogue galaxy over 300 million years ago. The aftermath of this cataclysmic collision is a ring of galactic debris — visible as the tenuous luminous clouds spreading left and right from the golden oval of NGC 5291. This image also shows more gentle galactic interactions — NGC 5291 is interacting sedately with the unusually curved galaxy to the right of it, which is known as the Seashell.

From all of us to all of you.