Yeah it's totally trippy to look at those individual specks of light in that photo and contemplate that circling around it could be planet(s) full of life and very likely possible.

Another thing to keep in mind to when looking at that photo is you are highly likely looking back many millions to billions of years. While those two galaxies are only starting to combine from our perspective in reality they have long since combined. There could be new life already thriving there in the new bigger galaxy.