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Hubble Interacting Galaxy NGC 454
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Name: NGC 454
Description: Interacting Galaxies
Position (J2000): RA 01 14 26.10 Dec-55 23 40.00
Constellation: Phoenix
Distance: 150 million light-years (50 million parsecs)
Instrument: WFPC2
Exposure Date(s): March 6, 1997
Exposure Time: 31 minutes
Filters: F450W (B), F606W (V), and F814W (I)
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and M. Stiavelli (STScI)
Release Date: April 24, 2008
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ABOUT THIS IMAGE:

NGC 454 is galaxy pair comprising a large red elliptical galaxy and an irregular gas-rich blue galaxy. The system is in the early stages of an interaction that has severely distorted both components. The three bright blue knots of very young stars to the right of the two main components are probably part of the irregular blue galaxy. Although the dust lanes that stretch all the way to the center of the elliptical galaxy suggest that gas has penetrated that far, no signs of star formation or nuclear activity are visible. The pair is approximately 164 million light-years away.

This image is part of a large collection of 59 images of merging galaxies taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on the occasion of its 18th anniversary on 24th April 2008.