This odd-looking computer- enhanced image actually portrays a pair of galaxies in the constellation Canes Venatici. The larger of the two, NGC 4490, is a spiral also known as the Cocoon Galaxy; the smaller, NGC 4485, is an irregular galaxy. The two galaxies appear to be identical both in population and in concen- tration; that is, they contain the same types of stars and the same density of stars over a given area. Some astronomers believe these similarities may mean the pair was once a single galaxy that somehow has been disrupted.
Most of the star formation in NGC 4485 and NGC 4490 seems to be occurring in the dark area between them. Perhaps it is more than mere coincidence that this
