NASA took to Instagram to share an interesting post about two galaxies located 23 million light-years away from Earth. In the post, the space agency shared how one of the galaxies resembles the shape of a penguin and another one that resembles an egg.
“Cosmic noot. These penguin and egg-shaped galaxies were captured by our Spitzer and @NASAHubble space telescopes. At 23 million light-years away, this remote pairing lives about 10 times farther from us than the Andromeda galaxy,” NASA wrote.
“The ‘penguin’ part of the pair is a spiral galaxy twisted and pulled by the pull of its neighbour. Due to its mix of features – new stars, strands of gas, and others – its distortion is readily visible. The ‘egg,’ in contrast, appears featureless due to its smooth distribution of old stars. This hides any shaping caused by its neighbour,” they added. Eventually, gravity will bring these two galaxies closer over time and they will merge into one.
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The first image shows the ‘egg’ galaxy located just below the ‘penguin’. The second image is the same as the first one but with purple outlines around the two galaxies to highlight their penguin and egg shapes.
Take a look at the entire post here:
{{/usCountry}}The first image shows the ‘egg’ galaxy located just below the ‘penguin’. The second image is the same as the first one but with purple outlines around the two galaxies to highlight their penguin and egg shapes.
Take a look at the entire post here:
{{/usCountry}}The post was shared about 11 hours ago. Since then, it has accumulated nearly one million likes. The share has also prompted people to post varied comments.
Also Read: NASA shares mesmerising pic of 'irregular galaxy' 7 million light-years away from Earth
How did Instagram users react to this NASA post?
“This is the cutest thing I have seen all day,” wrote an Instagram user. “It’s a penguin with glasses,” added another. “It was more recognizable before the doodle. Just saying!” joined a third. Many reacted to the post using emoticons.