NASA has shown a photo of a galaxy in the shape of a penguin and an egg

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has revealed new photos and facts about the galaxies NGC 2936 and NGC 2937. This is reported on the website of the space agency.

The publication of the image was timed to coincide with two years of operation of the telescope. Together, the galaxies are known as Arp 142, located 326 million light-years from Earth. From the outside, they resemble a penguin guarding its egg. NGC 2936 at the top was once a standard spiral galaxy, and NGC 2937 at the bottom is an elliptical galaxy.

NGC 2936 and NGC 2937 are located at a distance of about 100,000 light—years from each other - quite close by astronomical standards. For comparison, our Milky Way galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy closest to it are about 2.5 million light-years away. Their first rapprochement began between 25 and 75 million years ago. Scientists predict that in hundreds of millions of years NGC 2936 and NGC 2937 will merge into a single galaxy.

Source: RG.RU, Lenta.RU