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Black Eye Galaxy

Photo: A swirling, partially darkened galaxy

The Black Eye or Evil Eye galaxy gets its nicknames from the band of light-absorbing dust that appears in front of the star system's bright center in this Hubble Space Telescope image. Messier 64, as the Black Eye galaxy is more formally known, is thought to have taken on its ominous appearance after it collided with another galaxy perhaps a billion years ago.

Photograph courtesy NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI)