NASA's Hubble Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory teamed up to capture the violent encounter of two galaxies, ESO 137-001 and Abell 3627.

According to Discovery News, the observation displays ESO cutting through the heart of Abell, which is actually a cluster of galaxies that resides in the Triangulum Australe constellation, also known as the Southern Triangle.

ESO, a spiral-shaped galaxy, is seen being ripped apart in a process called "ram pressure stripping." During this process, ESO is moving through the middle Abell, which is packed with dense and superheated gasses similarly to how an object moves through a stream of water.

As ESO moves forward, its cold galactic gasses are stripped away, giving way to streams of X-ray and ultraviolet light. Within the streams, a class of stars is becoming newly minted even though they are essentially the recycled innards of the spiral ESO galaxy.

As the Hubble and Chandra have captured, the process makes for visually stunning imagery. It is also highly useful to scientists studying the intricacies of star formation and galaxy evolution.

"Studying ram pressure stripping helps astronomers to better understand the mechanisms that drive the evolution of galaxies," according to an ESA/Hubble press release. "For example, it will leave this galaxy with very little of the cold gas that is essential for star formation, rendering the galaxy effectively incapable of forming new stars."

ESO 137-001 belongs to the Norma Cluster, which lies toward the middle of a region of space so massive and so strong, it has earned the name Great Attractor. True to its name, its gravitational pull is so strong and inescapable, it drags galaxy clusters toward it, including our own Milky Way Galaxy, located about 200 million light years away.

The image is another testament to Hubble's eye for detail and obscure galactic events. Being no different, this image gives scientists a rare insight into the gory details of what happens when a galaxy passes through the heart of a galaxy cluster.