It’s a heads-up for all the nebula enthusiasts as NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes add another sight to behold which shows two interacting galaxies captured in a new image formed by adding up their individual data together. These two galaxies are about 23 million light-years away from Earth and strikingly look like a penguin and its egg. The galaxy was formerly a conventional spiral galaxy that resembled our Earth’s very own Milky Way galaxy. The magnificent penguin is called NGC 2336.
Rich with newly formed hot stars, seen in visible light from Hubble as bluish filaments, its shape has now been twisted and distorted as it responds to the gravitational tugs of its neighbour. Strands of gas mixed with dust stand out as red filaments detected at longer wavelengths of infrared light seen by Spitzer. – The NASA officials stated on Feb 1, 2018, describing a newly released photo.
Now, the “egg” of the penguin is an elliptical neighbouring galaxy of the penguin-like NGC 2336, called NGC 2937. As per NASA officials, the egg-like NGC 2937 isn’t showing any distinct star formation surfacing on it, and its strong greenish glow is emitted by fairly old stars.
Although existing in the disjoined configuration as of now, it is quite likely that the penguin and the egg shall conjoin into one single galaxy formation. Such conjunctions are common and crucial to keep up the evolution of large galaxies in the universe.
Likewise, scientists estimate that Milky Way too will merge with its neighboring galaxy in a few billion years.
For now, it’s no wonder that all the fans of constellations and galaxies shall be glued to the stunning image of these two beautiful galaxies and be awed by the wonders that lie in our universe. This sharp image produced by NASA takes astronomy a step ahead, “providing glimpses into the universe which pose new questions we didn’t even know to ask because we didn’t have that insight,” John M. Grunsfeld, Associate Admin. for the Science Mission Directorate, NASA.
