HST/ALMA Composite Image of SDSS J1448+1010

SDSS J1448+1010 is a newly-dormant massive galaxy that was born when the Universe was at roughly half of its current age, and is nearing the completion of a merger with another galaxy. During the course of this merger, the force of gravity flung what amounts to nearly half of the system’s star-forming gas away from the galaxy, leaving it unable to form new stars. This composite image combines blue/white data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and red/orange data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to show the post-merger distribution of gas and stars from the now-dormant galaxy into streams of material known as tidal tails.
Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), J. Spilker et al (Texas A&M), S. Dagnello (NRAO/AUI/NSF)