Two interacting galaxies called the Penguin and the Egg have been seen in greater clarity and detail than ever before after NASA released a new image (right) taken from the James Webb Space Telescope, while on the left is an older image taken from the Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
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NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Like a protective parent, one galaxy towers above the other, looking down on its neighbor. The two galaxies are named NGC 2936 and NGC 2937, but are more famous for the penguin and egg.
The team behind the James Webb Space Telescope They released a new image of the two The two galaxies appeared clearer than ever on Friday, two years after the first images taken using the telescope’s advanced infrared instrument were released.
“Webb is providing insight into long-standing mysteries about the early universe and ushering in a new era of studying distant worlds,” said Mark Crumpen, director of NASA’s Astrophysics Division. “It’s also sending back inspiring images for people around the world and raising exciting new questions to answer.”
The two galaxies are very close in galactic terms and while they do interact, their quirky names give away their actual ages: In the case of the penguin and the egg, it was the egg that came first.
Egg is a compact elliptical galaxy that was long lost Love BoatAs NASA points out, the planet is “filled with aging stars.”
The Penguin Galaxy, on the other hand, is a spiral galaxy filled with gas and dust and “rich in newly formed hot stars.” NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2018The company released images of the two objects taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The penguin’s shape has been warped and twisted by the eggs over tens of millions of years in what NASA calls a “slow cosmic dance,” and new stars may have been born in the process.
According to NASA, although the penguin and the egg look very different, they have roughly the same mass.
The two galaxies are estimated to be about 100,000 light-years apart, and because of their close proximity, they are collectively known as Arp 142. After some more dancing and gravitational interactions in space, they will eventually merge into a single object.
