This Galaxy, NGC 7714, has an odd shape.  In fact we call it a ‘Peculiar Galaxy.’  Why doesn’t it have the characteristic spiral arms if it is indeed a spiral? Why doesn’t it look more diffuse and football shaped like an elliptical galaxy? The reason is that like millions of other galaxies in the Universe, it has recently collided with a nearby companion galaxy. Now using the term ‘collided’ is not really accurate.  In reality the two galaxies are interacting via gravity.  During a ‘collision,’ stars in the interacting galaxies don’t physically hit each other.  The galaxies are incredibly large,...