X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State Univ./S. Dichiara; IR: NASA/ESA/STScI;  Illustration: ERC BHianca 2026 / Fortuna and Dichiara, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/P. Edmonds

Illustrations accompanying the NASA/Chandra press release “NASA Discovers Crash of Extreme Stars in Unexpected Site”.

The release includes two artist’s concepts and a composite image showing the results of two cosmic collisions that began hundreds of millions of years ago.

At the center is the brightest galaxy involved in a merger between two galaxy groups, surrounded by gas and dust pulled into long tidal streams. In the same region, Chandra detected X-rays produced by the collision of two neutron stars.

The second illustration shows a close-up view of what the aftermath of a neutron star collision might look like, including the gamma-ray burst that first revealed it and the X-ray emission observed afterward.

Text adapted from the NASA press release.