Today, three new images of starbursts and colliding galaxies from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray team were uploaded to the Smithsonian's Flickr Commons stream. Check out these colorful, shimmering beauties, millions of light years away from Earth, in the slideshow below:

Here's what Kim Kowal Arcand, Multimedia Specialist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-Ray Observatory had to say about the new images:

"One of the central quests of astronomy is to understand how stars form, shine for billions of years, and eventually die—sometimes in explosive deaths as supernovas. The Chandra X-ray Observatory can focus on the high-energy action of this drama in the remains of exploded star SNR 0509-67.5, in the torrent of star formation in star-burst galaxy M82, or in the Antennae colliding galaxies where supernova explosions are enriching the intergalactic gas with elements that will be incorporated into new generations of stars and planets."