Zooming in on NGC 2623

Zooming in on NGC 2623, a collision of two galaxies, located in the constellation of Cancer (the Crab). The prominent lower tail is richly populated with bright star clusters — 100 of them have been found in these observations. These star clusters may have formed as part of a loop of stretched material associated with the northern tail, or they may have formed from debris falling back onto the nucleus. In addition to this active star-forming region, both galactic arms harbour very young stars in the early stages of their evolutionary journey.