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Penguin and the Egg: Webb Space Telescope's latest cosmic shot shows pair of intertwined galaxies

The pictures, released Friday, mark Webb's second anniversary of science operations

Penguin and the Egg: Webb Space Telescope's latest cosmic shot shows pair of intertwined galaxies

The pictures, released Friday, mark Webb's second anniversary of science operations

Sorry, what the path to Mars is beset with challenges. The crew and their families have committed *** year of their lives in service to NASA, to the country and to humanity's exploration of space. And so thank you. Congratulations and thank you to the crew for um putting your previous careers on pause for *** year and uh committing yourself to research that is gonna enable our future exploration of space. Wow, that went by quickly. I really hope I don't cry standing up here in front of all of you. One has been *** unique experience with great challenges, joys and sorrows and *** lot of hard work with *** fair bit of fun thrown in as well. I've been asked many times why the obsession with Mars, why go to Mars because it's possible because space can unite and bring out the best in us. So this has been *** wonderful experience and I really hope this helps us get that much closer to the reality of putting boots on Mars. Thank you.
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Penguin and the Egg: Webb Space Telescope's latest cosmic shot shows pair of intertwined galaxies

The pictures, released Friday, mark Webb's second anniversary of science operations

The Webb Space Telescope has captured a pair of intertwined galaxies glowing in the infrared.Related video above: 4 NASA volunteers exit space agency's simulated Mars habitat in Texas after 376 daysThe observatory, operated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the European Space Agency, photographed the two galaxies 326 million light-years away, surrounded by a blue haze of stars and gas. A light-year is 5.8 trillion miles.The pictures, released Friday, mark the second anniversary of Webb's science operations.The neighboring galaxies, nicknamed Penguin and the Egg, have been tangled up for tens of millions of years, according to NASA. They'll eventually merge into a single galaxy. The same interaction will happen to our own Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy in 4 billion years, the space agency said.Considered the successor to the aging Hubble Space Telescope, Webb is the biggest and most powerful astronomical observatory ever launched. It rocketed away in 2021 and underwent six months of commissioning before its first official images were released in July 2022.It's positioned 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) from Earth."In just two years, Webb has transformed our view of the universe," NASA's Mark Clampin said in a statement.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The Webb Space Telescope has captured a pair of intertwined galaxies glowing in the infrared.

Related video above: 4 NASA volunteers exit space agency's simulated Mars habitat in Texas after 376 days

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

The pictures, released Friday, mark the second anniversary of Webb's science operations.

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

In this photo provided by NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute, two interacting galaxies are captured by the Webb Space Telescope in the infrared. Scientists say the neighboring galaxies, nicknamed Penguin, right, and the Egg, left, have been tangled up for tens of millions of years. (NASA and Space Telescope Science Institute via AP)
NASA and Space Telescope Science Institute via AP
In this photo provided by NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute, two interacting galaxies are captured by the Webb Space Telescope in the infrared. (NASA and Space Telescope Science Institute via AP)

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

It's positioned 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) from Earth.

"In just two years, Webb has transformed our view of the universe," NASA's Mark Clampin said in a statement.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.