[Regnum] A photograph of two galaxies, NGC 2936 and NGC 2937, in the shape of a penguin with an egg, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, was published by NASA on July 12 in the telescope's official account on the social network X.
"Penguins are great parents, even in space. <…> This new Webb image shows two galaxies: Penguin (NGC 2936) and the Egg (NGC 2937). <…> They are in a cosmic embrace, connected by a bluish haze of stars and gases," the caption to the photo explains.
In addition, the publication says that the "egg" and "penguin" have been approaching each other for tens of millions of years and will eventually merge into one galaxy. At the moment, the distance between NGC 2936 and NGC 2937 is 25 times smaller than between the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy, which is closest to it.
NASA timed the publication to coincide with the second anniversary of the first images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. To date, it is the largest and most powerful telescope ever launched by humanity. The telescope is an orbiting infrared observatory, it was launched on December 25, 2021, and its first scientific research began in the summer of 2022.
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