A long time ago, in a distant far galaxy ... It is not the "way of strength" of Star Wars, but what you see in these photos: the light of the most remote and ancient galaxies in the Universe takes millions of years to reach us . We see them today as they were when there was no trace of man on Earth.

![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSqBNtRj5Z_xDCvCwMvFQmOwh0RtFU5PF8mRL_CtGl5UsxYFGG72L-Ga9k6Cw)
[Credits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sombrero_Galaxy)
### Sombrero Galaxy (M 104)
[28 million light years from us](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sombrero_Galaxy) is one of the celestial objects preferred by amateur astronomers around the world: a galaxy seen cut, similar in appearance to a Mexican hat ... the size of 800 billion Suns. It is thought that the interior of this heavenly object extends 50 thousand light years into a supermassive black hole.

![](https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS4q7pN_t3_N5QhN0I3qt-40N4D1zzhKmEbLmDG_57PmAp0RqRy)
[Credits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antennae_Galaxies)
### The Antennae (NGC 4038/4039) 
[Located at the "astronomical" distance of 45 million light years](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antennae_Galaxies), this pair of interacting galaxies is still the closest known colliding duo of galaxies. Their interaction has lasted for hundreds of thousands of years and has given rise to regions of intense star formation. A similar scene could be repeated, in three billion years, for a reality closer to us: even the Milky Way (our galaxy) and Andromeda are on a collision course and promise to collide and pierce each other to form, finally, a unique gigantic elliptical galaxy.

![](https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRgTlQ1dK-Lo48AAESQpqTFtzXszntFm6CHTaRbaUocNwxGhqt-tm1YqpAW)
[Credits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82)
### Cigar Galaxy (M 82)
[It is the closest on the list](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82): it is "only" 11.5 million light years from us. It takes its name from the elongated shape that shows at the observation (here in different wavelengths captured by Hubble, Chandra and Spitzer). It is a starburst galaxy, an intense and industrious star-forming forge fueled by the interaction with the nearby M81, a galaxy that deforms it with its tidal forces. Stellar nursery activity, together with the spectacle of gas emissions we are witnessing, should last for another 100 million years.


![](https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQPq1bncs_WD6ZXxmrkpGA1Xi8ZLwJVGgDAXU60Y07KTBshK9vgo2yxYhMR)
[Credits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arp_273)
### Arp 273
[A celestial "rose" that was catched from 350 million light years away](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arp_273). The spiral shape of the upper visible galaxy, UGC 1810, is caused by the gravitational pull of UCC 1813, below. The blue areas welcome young and warm stars.

![](https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRvi-wimJzu_HsWWpORp2ZcHDOPdacw2-SleOuX2laGWr9_IVZ376v97-AF)
[Credits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwheel_Galaxy)
### Pinwheel Galaxy (M 101)
[At 27 million light years from Earth](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinwheel_Galaxy), it is one of the brightest galaxies in the sky and is also visible with a simple pair of binoculars (moreover, for a terrestrial observer it is precisely positioned in a "frontal" way). Its enormous arms extend for 170 thousand light years, twice the size of the Milky Way, so great that its gravitational attraction distorts the shape of many nearby galaxies.


![](https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTGzplwwWwwoPzGToq6MP3-Zj5I48MqNFe-oTgPOUPDnHR3K1A7)
[Credits](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Zwicky_18)
### I Zwicky 18
[This bright blue](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Zwicky_18) is a dwarf galaxy 59 million light years from us: irregularly shaped, it is much smaller than the Milky Way and has long appeared younger than it actually is (so much so that it has earned its nickname of celestial "Dorian Gray" - referring to the character of Oscar Wilde obsessed with eternal youth). While observations made 40 years ago suggested that it had formed several billion years after the surrounding galaxies, more recent Hubble studies have shown that the celestial object has instead had an abnormal stellar formation rhythm: slow at first, more intense now that we see it.


![](https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ9HuUYn8MfJNIFDh6TQsIuhl-KlN9hgJ7gjRGUbYHBrH-FyGeU5AXDIojU)
[Credits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_1275)
### NGC 1275
[You are witnessing a show that took place 230 million years ago](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_1275), but no less fascinating: the supermassive black hole hidden in the center of this galaxy causes an intense emission of X rays that make it fall into the classification of the Seyfert Galaxies , galaxies with extraordinarily active and brilliant nuclei, powered by central "engines" (in this case, in fact, a black hole).

TO BE CONTINUED!!!