APOD 1.2

The 9/8/10 picture shows the NGC 4911 galaxy within the Coma Cluster. The Coma Cluster contains over 1000 galaxies, so densely packed that they sometimes collide and form bigger, elliptical galaxies. I thought it was fascinating how the neighbor galaxy NGC 4911A exerts a gravitational pull on NGC 4911, which distorts the spiral of dust surround it. The clouds of hydrogen indicate that stars are still forming in the galaxy. If NGC 4911 becomes an elliptical galaxy, the motion of the stars will become more radial rather than rotational. It's also mind-boggling that, according to the Wikipedia article on galaxy formation, galaxies form as a result of miniscule quantum fluctuations in the aftermath of the Big Bang. Gigantic, complex collections of stars come from events of subatomic magnitude.