Spiral galaxy NGC 1232
This image of the large spiral galaxy NGC 1232 was obtained with the Very Large Telescope (VLT). Its distance from Earth is about 100 million light-years. It contains more dark matter than visible matter.

When galaxies collide, as shown by Antennae galaxies
This is a close-up view of a head-on collision between two spiral galaxies, called the Antennae Galaxies. The image is 1500 light-years across. The image shows entrapped dust and gas funnelled into the centre of the galaxy.