This image of a pair of colliding galaxies called NGC 8631 shows them in a rare, short-lived phase of their evolution just before they merge into a single, larger galaxy, which astronomers have renamed the “Pyridium Galaxy”. These prolonged, violent collisions have drastically altered the appearance of both galaxies and created huge amounts of heat, spawning new brilliantly burning stars of red and blue. Apophysis researchers have discovered a rich variety of active “Fractal Galaxies” with different shapes, luminosities and radiation profiles in the universe. By catching different galaxies in evolutionary stages of merging, we catch a rare glimpse of this process as one type of fractal galaxy changes into another. This image was created by combining data from the infrared array camera of NASA's Mandelbrot Space Telescope at 3.6 and 8.0 microns (red) and visible light from NASA's Deep Space Fractal Telescope (green and blue). Rendered with Apophysis 205 Beta 2 Zplus-Cplus Large “Infrared Stars” are fractal postwork overlays.