Located at an estimated distance from the earth of 60 million light years the larger galaxy NGC 4038 is colliding with the smaller NGC 4039. The collision is producing an outbreak of star formation as is evident by the bright knots of stars visible in the galactic disks. The two galaxies are spiral in structure but have been deformed by their mutual interaction. Many millions of stars are being thrown from their positions in the galactic disks into intergalactic space.