The multi-color image you see is a combination of shots of different telescopes at different wave-lengths. NASA scientists believe the galaxy looks the way it does because another galaxy smashed into it sometime, however, which galaxy that was, is not known.
In 1996, Hubble telescope spotted what looks like clouds of comets zooming at super-sonic speeds inside the galaxy.
It's very hard to tell what really is happening inside the galaxy because all information is deduced from the way the galaxy looks at different wave-lengths of light. What we could see, is that it is another masterpiece of creation.
Sources:
NASA