On July 12, the James Webb Space Telescope shared a stunning image of two merging galaxies, called ARP 142. Based on their appearance, these galaxies have earned the nickname ‘the Penguin and the Egg’.
The ‘Penguin (NGC 2936)’ is an indistinct coiled galaxy present at the center, and the ‘Egg (NGC 2937)’ is a spiral galaxy that looks much like an egg, which can be seen on the left.
The image was shared on X by NASA on July 12, 2024, when JWST was celebrating its second anniversary.
We’re celebrating two years of science for @NASAWebb! 🎉
The second anniversary image from the largest telescope in space shows two interacting galaxies called the Penguin (NGC 2936) and the Egg (NGC 2937), entwined in a slow cosmic dance: https://t.co/x4GImWwTRw pic.twitter.com/po60sNkQQN
— NASA (@NASA) July 12, 2024
Further observations by the James Webb Space Telescope revealed that the ‘Egg’ and the ‘Penguin’ galaxies are 1,00,000 light years apart.
The image shows the ‘Egg’ galaxy on the left and the ‘Penguin’ distorted galaxy on the right, which once was a spiral galaxy. These galaxies are getting closer to each other due to gravitational forces and will apparently merge to form one big galaxy. The interaction between these galaxies is leading to the collision of the dust clouds, which is triggering new star formation.
JWST was launched in December 2021 to see better and deeper than those earlier telescopes. While Hubble orbits and looks into the visible and ultraviolet ends of the electromagnetic spectrum, JWST specializes in the infrared region.
This makes it possible for the telescope to look through cosmic dust and observe objects that cannot be seen or are too weak and small for other telescopes. The outcome is an enhanced vision of the universe and its formations, enhanced by the enhanced clarity provided by better telescopes.
