When you buy through tie on our situation , we may clear an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it works .

What it is : Arp 142 , a pair of interact galaxy

When it was take : June 20 , 2013

The birdlike galaxy NGC 2936 is being ripped apart by the smaller galaxy NGC 2937.

The birdlike galaxy NGC 2936 is being ripped apart by the smaller galaxy NGC 2937.

Where it is : 326 million light - years from Earth , in the configuration Hydra .

Why it ’s so peculiar : Showcased recentlyby theEuropean Space Agency , this sensational image of a couple of interacting galaxies creates the illusion of a birdlike shape guarding an ball .

Is it a hummingbird , a penguin , or a sneaky porpoise creeping up onto the beach ? Arp 142 is a mythic example ofpareidolia , the human disposition to see intimate object or design in unrelated objects . However , its two galaxies are very much related in that they ’re gravitationally interact with each other .

A telescope image of a swooping galaxy shaped somewhat like a bird against a black background of sky

Related:15 Martian objects that are n’t what they seem

This image depict a standard spiral galaxy called NGC 2936 and a small elliptical extragalactic nebula called NGC 2937 . When two extragalactic nebula get too close to each other , their gravity get down to warp each other . Sometimes , the galaxies merge , but other time , they rip each other apart .

If you study the sprain remains of the larger turbinate galaxy , you’re able to see the leftover of its bright magnetic core as the " eye ' " of the bird — but its once - spiraling arms of whiz are now warped run of sorry and crimson in the bird ’s body .

An image of a spiral galaxy

— Space photo of the week : Hubble spies a spectacular galaxy crash

— ' gilded cosmic firework ' : See the arresting winners of the 2023 uranology photo of the year contest

— Space photo of the hebdomad : The sunlight ’s violent corona like it ’s never been seen before

A photo of a spiral galaxy

Although the picture was create in 2013 , it ’s resurfaced lately as scientist use theHubble Space Telescopeto finish catalog so - called singular galaxies . In September , Hubble append Arp 107 as the space telescope used its Advanced Camera for Surveys to observe appendage of theAtlas of Peculiar Galaxies , all of which are interact and merging . That catalogue was ab initio bring out in 1966 by American stargazer Halton Arp ( this peculiar wandflower ’s namesake ) .

The image of Arp 142 — a compounding of seeable and infrared light — was taken by Hubble ’s Wide Field Camera 3 , which was installed in 2009 by astronauts on Space Shuttle Atlantis , according toNASA . It was the final servicing mission , and the space scope has n’t been visited since .

NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features part of the Small Magellanic Cloud.

an image of the Eagle Nebula

An image of the Milky Way captured by the MeerKAT radio telescope. At the center of the MeerKAT image the region surrounding the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole blazes bright. Huge vertical filamentary structures echo those captured on a smaller scale by Webb in Sagittarius C’s blue-green hydrogen cloud.

An image of red swirling dust and sparkling stars in outer space

an illustration of Mars

A two-paneled image. On the left, a deep sky image showing many stars. On the right, a zoomed-in version showing a cluster of stars.

A photograph taken from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which shows wave-like patterns inside a Mars crater.

An illustration of an asteroid passing by Earth

a closeup of a meteorite in the snow

Three-dimensional rendering of an HIV virus

three prepackaged sandwiches

Tunnel view of Yosemite National Park.

A scuba diver descends down a deep ocean reef wall into the abyss.

Remains of the Heroon, a small temple built for the burial cluster of Philip II at the Museum of the Royal Tombs inside the Great Tumulus of Aigai (Aegae)