This delicate smudge in deep space is far more turbulent than it first appears. Known as IRAS 14348-1447 — named after its discoverer, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) — this object is a combination of two gas-rich spiral galaxies. This doomed duo approached one another too closely in the past, gravity causing them to affect and tug at each other and slowly, destructively, merge into one. The image was taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, see http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1701a/
