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Interacting galaxies NGC 6745. Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image of a collision between two galaxies. The spiral galaxy at upper centre has been distorted by gravitational forces during its collision with the smaller galaxy at bottom right corner. Collisions between individual stars are unlikely, because the distances that separate them are so large. However, dust and gas particles do interact directly, producing the conditions necessary for new star formation (white, lower right). NGC 6745 is around 80,000 light years across and is located about 200 million light years away. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/NASA/ESA/STSCI/HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM/ SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)