These penguin and egg-shaped galaxies were imaged by our Spitzer and @NASAHubble space telescopes. At 23 million light-years away, this distant pair lives about 10 times further away from us than the Andromeda galaxy.

The "penguin" part of the pair is a spiral galaxy, twisted and pulled by the gravity of its neighbour. Its distortion is easily visible due to the mixture of features such as new stars, gas filaments and others. In contrast, the "egg" appears featureless due to the uniform distribution of old stars. This hides any contouring caused by its neighbour.

Over time, gravity will bring these two galaxies closer together until they merge. Such a merger has probably occurred in the history of most of the large galaxies we see today, including the Milky Way.

Image Description:

1. Two galaxies stand out on a black background dotted with small, faint stars and two brighter stars in the upper part of the image. The "egg" galaxy is just below the "penguin" and appears as a glowing, turquoise rectangle. The "penguin" galaxy appears to stand above its galactic neighbour. Twisted blue and red filaments outline the shape of the penguin in the mottled, white glow of the galaxy's body. Rusty lines flow from the penguin's "beak" to its "body".

2. Same image as above, but with a purple frame around the two galaxies emphasising the penguin and egg shapes.