Creating tides of matter, sheets of shocked gas, lanes of dark dust, bursts of star formation, and streams of cast-away stars, spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163 will slowly pull each other apart. Astronomers predict that the larger galaxy on the left (NGC 2207), will eventually incorporate the smaller galaxy on the right (IC 2163). In the most recent encounter that about peaked 40 million years ago, the smaller galaxy is swinging around counter-clockwise, and is now slightly behind the larger galaxy. The space between stars is so vast that when galaxies collide, the stars in them usually do not collide.
