First Pitch

This image sings and soars all on its own.  Not that it needs a realistic Earthbound analog, but if I had to choose one, I'd say that sprite in the upper left is flinging a baseball to that mitt in the lower left.  This being Spring Training and all.

This is in reality a group four very old and gravitationally bound galaxies,  Hickson Compact Group 31, interacting with each other.  One day, perhaps a billion years from now, they'll be one big galaxy.

The shot is from the Hubble.  Astronomy Picture of the Day posted it yesterday.  It's worth clicking to see in a larger format.  Particularly that sprite on the left.