These distant galaxies look as if they are colliding, but they aren't: See this rare view

This throwback image shared by the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) features NGC 3314, a pair of overlapping spiral galaxies that lie roughly 140 million light-years from Earth. Captured by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the two galaxies appear to be slamming into each other but they are actually separated by tens of millions of light-years.

Observations have revealed that NGC 3314B (in the background) is about 140 million light-years from Earth, while the one in front - NGC 3314A - is roughly 117 million light-years away in the direction of the southern hemisphere constellation Hydra. The two overlapping galaxies are moving in markedly different directions, indicating that they are not on any collision course.

While NGC 3314B's dust lanes are lightened by the bright fog of stars in the foreground, NGC 3314A's dust is backlit by the stars of NGC 3314B. Because of the chance alignment, as seen from Earth, NGC 3314B's dust lanes appear lighter than those of NGC 3314A.

Is this one galaxy or two? Two! The two galaxies are separated by tens of millions of light-years. Researchers were able to disentangle them because they are moving in different directions.Credit: https://t.co/jAHH2AZRDd pic.twitter.com/L3hu7Obn4L

— Space Telescope Science Institute (@SpaceTelescope) May 31, 2022

This Hubble image of NGC 3314 was initially released in 2012.