Two distant galaxies appear to overlap in latest Hubble image

The twin galaxies NGC 4496A and NGC 4496B appear to overlap in a new image shared by the European Space Agency (ESA) and captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

Despite their side-by-side appearance, the two galaxies are at vastly different distances from both Earth and one another, in the constellation Virgo.

According to ESA, NGC 4496A is 47 million light-years from Earth while NGC 4496B is 212 million light-years away. The enormous distances between them mean that the twin galaxies cannot interact, and they only appear to overlap owing to a chance alignment. 

"Chance galactic alignments such as this provide astronomers with the opportunity to delve into the distribution of dust in these galaxies. Galactic dust adds to the beauty of astronomical images — it can be seen in this image as the dark tendrils threading through both NGC 4496A and NGC 4496B — but it also complicates astronomers’ observations," ESA wrote in a post.

A not-so-close encounter in our latest Picture of the Week: despite appearing side-by-side, the twin galaxies NGC 4496 A & B are at vastly different distances from both 🌍 & each other. https://t.co/YLFn21Jg1K pic.twitter.com/2sSBqsNlVV

— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) February 28, 2022

Launched in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope is a space-based observatory that explores the universe from low Earth orbit. It is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA.