This picture represented the kind of sight that first initiated my interest in astronomy. A swirling galaxy followed by a long tail like feature demonstrate the endless possibility of events that can occur in our solar system. This picture was taken by the well known Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Since the Hubble is in orbit, it allows for much closer and more precise pictures of whatever it is targeting in its view. This picture is actually of the spiral galaxy Arc 188, or better known as the Tadpole Galaxy due to its resemblance of the creature. Its long tail is made of bright blue star clusters and spans for over 280,000 light years. It giant galaxy is believed to have formed by a smaller galaxy crossing paths with the larger circular galaxy, and thus the a huge gravitational force was created. This pulled all of the stars and dust particles out of the spiral galaxy, and as a result created what we refer to as the "tail" on the tadpole. The intruder galaxy that nearly collided with the Tadpole galaxy now remains in orbit within the spiraling arms of the Tadpole. However, as during the life span of a Tadpole, this galaxy will also mature and lose its tail as the stars cluster begin to form smaller and smaller satellites.
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