The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), celebrating its second anniversary of groundbreaking discoveries, has captured a stunning image of Arp 142, a pair of interacting galaxies known as ‘the Penguin’ and ‘the Egg’. Located approximately 325 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra, this cosmic duo offers a unique glimpse into the forces that shape galaxies over eons.
The larger galaxy, NGC 2936, aptly nicknamed ‘the Penguin’, owes its distinctive warped appearance to the gravitational pull of its companion, NGC 2937, known as ‘the Egg’. Over millions of years, the Egg’s gravitational influence has distorted the Penguin, pulling its once symmetrical spiral arms into a beak, back, and tail. The Penguin’s dense center, once a hallmark of spiral galaxies, now appears as a gleaming eye.
As the massive Egg orbits the Penguin at a distance of about 100,000 light-years, it continues to reshape its companion. In the thinner regions of the Penguin, like its beak and tail, gas and dust are compressed, triggering the birth of new stars. This stellar formation process is evident in the image as bright spots scattered throughout the Penguin’s distorted structure.
The smaller Egg, glowing brightly to the Penguin’s left, is a densely packed elliptical galaxy that has remained relatively unchanged during its cosmic dance with the Penguin. Despite its smaller appearance, the Egg contains roughly the same amount of mass as the Penguin, explaining why it hasn’t been absorbed by its larger companion.
The final merger of the Penguin and the Egg is expected to occur in millions of years, according to NASA. The new image, combining data from JWST’s Near Infrared Camera and Mid-Infrared Instrument, reveals a vast spectrum of light invisible to the human eye. These same instruments have allowed JWST to peer into the universe’s earliest moments, uncovering secrets about the formation of stars, galaxies, and the universe itself.
With its mission only just beginning, JWST continues to unveil the universe’s mysteries, offering unprecedented insights into the cosmos and transforming our understanding of the universe’s origins and evolution. As NASA Astrophysics Division Director, Eric Smith, stated, “In just two years, Webb has transformed our view of the universe. Webb is providing insights into longstanding mysteries about the early universe and ushering in a new era of studying distant worlds.”
