UGC10143 lurks in the center of galaxy cluster Abell 2147, which is located a hair under 500 million light-years away. What’s so exciting about this diffuse cloud of stars is the idea that elliptical galaxies may form when other galaxies merge.

UGC10143 was imaged because it was the brightest galaxy in its cluster, and like all such galaxies, was formed from the slow merger of in-falling systems that were drawn in by its massive gravitational pull. Researchers used the Hubble to study the globular clusters that surround this galaxy and likely preserve the history of those mergers.

This image uses data from Hubble and the Pan-STARRS telescope system on Earth. It is processed to depict mid-infrared as orange and blue as well as blue in optical light.

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NASA Goddard image release