Tidal Tales of Minor Mergers: Young Stars Where They Shouldn't Be

Optical image of the galaxy merger NGC 2782 showing the location of young star clusters which formed in the sweeping tails of debris after the collision. Even though the gas properties of the two tails are different, both tails show unexpectedly similar populations of young star clusters. This material was presented to the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington, D.C. on January 11, 2006. (Photo: Karen Knierman, UA Steward Observatory, and Patricia Knezek, WIYN/NOAO)