ESO 69-6

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ESO 69-6, also known as AM 1633-682, is a pair of galaxies that are colliding and merging. They lie about 654 million light-years away in the southern constellation Triangulum Australe. The two galaxies are named ESO 069-IG 006N (IRAS 16330-6820) and ESO 069-IG 006S (LEDA 285730).

Their interaction pulls out long streams of stars and gas, making tidal tails that look like musical notes on a staff. This gravitational tugging can send gas toward the centers of the galaxies, often triggering bright bursts of new star formation. The collision also spreads heavier elements into the surrounding space, enriching it out to hundreds of thousands of light-years. In the future, the two galaxies may fully merge to form a larger elliptical galaxy.