The NGC 5679 group of three galaxies also know as ARP 274, look as if they are about to merge.  In actuality, according to recent studies, the galaxies to the left and right of the large spiral galaxy are not quite as distant.  The galaxies do not show the characteristic gravitation deformation that interacting galactic systems display.  This galactic group is approximately 400 thousand light years from the earth and lie in the constellation of Virgo.

This image was assembled with data obtained from the Hubble Legacy Archive.  Three wide band filtered images were used for the red, green and blue channels.  These were imaged using filters of f814w for the red, f555w for green and f450w for blue.  A luminance image was also used and consisted of a combination of all the filters used.  This image is classified in the Hubble Legacy Archive as a detection, or white light, image.  The color image was created as a standard LRGB image.

¹Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, and obtained from the Hubble Legacy Archive, which is a collaboration between the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI/NASA), the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF/ESA) and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC/NRC/CSA).