Webb Space Telescope’s latest cosmic photo shows two entwined galaxies glowing in the infrared

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – The Webb Space Telescope captured a pair of entwined galaxies glowing in the infrared.

The observatory operated by NASA and the European Space Agency photographed the two galaxies 326 million light-years away, surrounded by a blue haze of stars and gas. One light year is 5.8 trillion miles.

The photos, released on Friday, mark the second anniversary of Webb Science Operations.

The neighboring galaxies, nicknamed Penguin and Egg, have been entangled for tens of millions of years, according to NASA. They will eventually merge into a single galaxy. The same interaction will happen with our Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy in 4 billion years, the space agency said.

Considered the successor to the old Hubble Space Telescope, Webb is the largest and most powerful astronomical observatory ever launched. It shot in 2021 and underwent six months of commissioning, before its first official images were released in July 2022.

It is positioned 1.6 million kilometers from Earth.

“In just two years, Webb transformed our view of the universe,” NASA’s Mark Clampin said in a statement.

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