N90.Name

Large galaxies grow by eating small ones.Even our own galaxy practicesgalactic cannibalism,absorbing small galaxies that get too close andare captured bythe Milky Way’s gravity.In fact, the practice is common in the universe andillustrated by this striking pair of interacting galaxiesfrom the banks of the southern constellationEridanusThe River).Located over 50 million light years away,the large, distorted spiral NGC 1532 is seen locked in agravitationalstruggle with dwarf galaxy NGC 1531, a struggle the smaller galaxywill eventually lose.Seen edge-on, spiral NGC 1532 spans about 100,000 light-years.Nicely detailed in this sharp image, theNGC 1532/1531 pair is thought to be similarto the well-studied system of face-on spiral and small companionknown as M51