A probable triple interacting / merging group of galaxies putting on a spectacular show of star formation, tidal features, and thick, backlit dust. Imaged recently for the Galaxy Zoo snapshot program designed to capture noteworthy and unusual gems, IC 2431 was voted as the popular favorite among all other mergers in the Zoo Gems project.

Note that red light is placed in the green channel for this image so areas of H-alpha emission appear green instead of pink in this image... not to be confused with [O III] emission, which itself is usually presented as green or blue.

Data from the following proposal were used to create this image: Gems of the Galaxy Zoos

Additionally, PanSTARRS data were used to colorize the image and smooth out the dark areas a little.

All channels: HST ACS/WFC F606W Red: PanSTARRS z Green: PanSTARRS r Blue: PanSTARRS g