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What it is : The galaxy duo Arp 142 , also known as " the Penguin " and " the Egg "
Where it is : About 325 million light - years from Earth , in the constellation Hydra
The stunning Penguin and Egg galaxies, seen in this new James Webb Space Telescope image, have been slowly colliding for tens of millions of years.
When it was partake : July 12 , 2024 , the two - year day of remembrance of theJames Webb Space Telescope ’s first image release
Why it ’s so exceptional : After two years of performance , theJames Webb Space Telescope(JWST ) has surge in on theoldest star in the do it world , uncoveredtantalizing exotic planetsthat could harbour life , challenged leading theories of cosmology — and now , to celebrate its anniversary , even dabbled in bird - observance .
In the cutting - border telescope ’s latest image , JWST reveals the clearest view ever of Arp 142 , a duo of intermingling galaxies resemble a cosmic penguin ward its brightly shining bollock . The orotund Penguin galaxy ( named NGC 2936 ) owe its warped appearance to more than 25 million years of gravitational friction with its eggy companion ( NGC 2937 ) , which will one day collide and merge with its neighbor entirely .
A full-size photo of the Penguin and Egg galaxies.
The Penguin began its life sentence as a spiral galaxy like ourMilky Way , fit in toNASA . But , as many of us on Earth know , parentage has a way of changing you . As the massive Egg orbit at about 100,000 loose - geezerhood away , the Penguin aim crumpled ever further out of soma . What was once the spiral galaxy ’s slow center is now the Penguin ’s glisten center ; its once - harmonious volute arms now adulterate into a beak , back and buttocks . In thinner regions , like the Penguin ’s beak and quarter , flatulence and dust slop together to form new stars .
Related : James Webb telescope confirms there is something severely wrong with our understanding of the universe
The smaller Egg , glowing brightly to the Penguin ’s left , is a densely pack prolate galaxy that has not changed much during its long galactic dance , according toNASA . Although the Egg see far smaller than the Penguin , the two galaxies probably incorporate virtually the same amount of mass , which explains why the Egg has n’t already been snap up by the expectant Penguin . The final amalgamation of the Penguin and the Egg is likely one thousand thousand of years out , NASA add .
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The new image coalesce data from JWST ’s Near Infrared Camera and Mid - Infrared Instrument , which together reveal a wide range of light source that is ordinarily invisible to human eyes . Using these same musical instrument , JWST has pull back the curtain on some of the universe ’s honest-to-goodness , most upstage structures , yield a amplitude of young information about the origins of whiz , galaxies and the universe itself . And its delegacy has only just begun .
" In just two year , Webb has transformed our view of the universe,“Mark Clampin , director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington , order in astatement . " Webb is providing sixth sense into longstanding mysteries about the early universe and ushering in a new era of studying distant world . … It has never been more possible to explore every aspect of the macrocosm . "
