 Here we see NGC4490 and NGC4485, together they form the system ARP269. 24,000 light years currently separates the two. Over millions of years their mutual gravitational attraction has dragged the two galaxies into each other. In this image the two galaxies have moved through each other and are speeding apart again. 4490 was once a barred spiral galaxy, like the Milky Way. The outlying regions have been stretched out, resulting in its nickname the Cocoon Galaxy. The extreme tidal forces of these interactions have determined the shapes and properties of the two galaxies, but now virtually no trace of its past spiral structure can be seen from our perspective.