M82 The Shotgun Galaxy

M82 is some 12 million light years away and is classified as an irregular galaxy because of its completely disordered shape. The reddish haze extending from the top and bottom of the galaxy are huge cloud bursts of ionized hydrogen gas emitting its characteristic red light. Its core suffered rather dramatically from a collision with M81 an estimated 40 million years ago. This collision triggered an immense number of exploding stars, or supernovae, earning it the nickname, the "Shotgun Galaxy." Recently, NASA found over 100 freshly-formed (young) globular star clusters with the Hubble Space Telescope. Their formation is probably another effect triggered by the collision with M81. You can still see the impact of the collision in the middle of the galaxy which has a huge crack.