The Tadpole Galaxy (also known as UGC 10214) is a spiral galaxy that has been violently disrupted by a collision with a smaller companion galaxy, which is visible as the compact, blue object in the upper left corner of the much more massive Tadpole galaxy. Strong gravitational forces from the interaction between the galaxies created the long tail of debris, which is made up of stars and gas that stretch out more than 280,000 light years. Hundreds of blue stars and star clusters are visible in the spiral arms of the galaxy and in the tidal debris tail. The galaxy is backdropped by thousands of faint background galaxies. The Tadpole Galaxy is located some 420 million light years away toward the constellation Draco. ---------- In this stunning vista recorded with the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys, distant galaxies form a dramatic backdrop for disrupted spiral galaxy Arp 188, the Tadpole Galaxy. The cosmic tadpole is a mere 420 million light-years distant toward the northern constellation Draco. Its eye-catching tail is about 280 thousand light-years long and features massive, bright blue star clusters. One story goes that a more compact intruder galaxy crossed in front of Arp 188 - from left to right in this view - and was slung around behind the Tadpole by their gravitational attraction. During the close encounter, tidal forces drew out the spiral galaxy's stars, gas, and dust forming the spectacular tail. The intruder galaxy itself, estimated to lie about 300 thousand light-years behind the Tadpole, can be seen through foreground spiral arms at the upper left. Following its terrestrial namesake, the Tadpole Galaxy will likely lose its tail as it grows older, the tail's star clusters forming smaller satellites of the large spiral galaxy. ---------- A spiral galaxy that has been grossly distorted by a small interloper – a nearby, blue compact galaxy visible. The Tadpole lies about 420 million light-years away in the constellation Draco. Strong gravitational forces from the interaction have created an incredibly long tail of stars and gas stretching out more than 280,000 light-years. Numerous young blue stars and star clusters, spawned by the galaxy collision, are seen in the spiral arms, as well as in the long tidal tail of stars. Each of these clusters contains up to a million stars and will redden with age to become in time globular clusters similar to those found in essentially all halos of large galaxies, including our own Milky Way. Two prominent clumps of young bright blue stars are visible in the tidal tale and are separated by a gap. These will likely become dwarf galaxies that orbit in the Tadpole's halo.