(It) has left the Cartwheel galaxy with a crisp, bright ring around a zone of relative calm.

It's like dropping a stone into a pond, only in this case, the pond is the galaxy, and the wave is the compression of gas. Each wave represents a burst of star formation, with the youngest stars found in the outer ring.

The dramatic plunge has left the Cartwheel Galaxy with a crisp, bright ring around a zone of relative calm.

The dramatic plunge has left the Cartwheel galaxy with a crisp, bright ring around a zone of relative calm. Usually a galaxy is brighter toward the center, but the ultraviolet view indicates the collision actually smoothed out the interior of the galaxy, concentrating older stars and dust into the inner regions. It's like the calm after the storm of star formation.

We've forced the other team to hit to beat us. We've forced them to put the ball in play and we've made the plays behind them -- and that's something we didn't do last year. We didn't play good defense behind our pitching and we walked too many guys and we've cleaned up those areas. It's really been a difference for us.

We've had good preparation because of it. It was kind of a wakeup call for a lot of the guys that are back and for the coaches and everybody. I feel like we have something to go out and prove -- that we're better than what we did last year, more than anything.