Images from the following two scopes (piggybacked) contributed to this image:
AG12+ASI1600MM at .70 asec/pix (RGB)
TV127is+ASI183MM at .75 asec/pix. (L)
They were all registered to the best R image taken on the AG12.
Using L from the TV NP127is refractor effectively eliminates the spikes from the AG12.
NGC 5427 and NGC 5426, also known as ARP 271, are two lovely interacting galaxies. Somewhat unusual to me is the fact that they are very close to similar in appearance, showing mostly the same colors.
It is not certain whether the galaxies are going to eventually collide or not. They will continue interacting for tens of millions of years, creating new stars as a result of the mutual gravitational attraction between the galaxies, a pull seen in the bridge of stars already connecting the two. Located 90 million light-years away, the Arp 271 pair is about 130,000 light-years across. It was originally discovered in 1785 by William Herschel. It is speculated, that the Milky Way will undergo a similar collision in about five billion years with the neighboring Andromeda Galaxy, which is currently located about 2.6 million light-years away.
(Wikipedia)
This was the last object observerd by the VIMOS instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope located in Chile. VIMOS was decommissioned on 24 March 2018. VIMOS — or, in full, the VIsible Multi-Object Spectrograph — was active on the VLT for an impressive 16 years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arp_271#/media/File:VIMOS's_last_embrace_NGC_5426_and_NGC_5427.jpg
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