Is this a space penguin protecting his egg? Check out this Hubble image

This throwback image captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image, which shows what looks like a space penguin protecting his egg from the cold vastness of space, is a pair of interacting galaxies, collectively called Arp 142.

This interacting galaxy pair lies 326 million light-years away in the southern constellation Hydra. The image is a composite of Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) photos taken in blue-green, yellow-red, and near-infrared light.

This is NOT a space penguin protecting his egg from the cold vastness of space. But it IS two galaxies interacting, collectively called Arp 142. Learn how their encounter is scrambling these galaxies: https://t.co/sFIMuNT3qn pic.twitter.com/kbzzQMZKq9

— Hubble Space Telescope (@HubbleTelescope) June 3, 2022

This interacting galaxy duo contains a star-forming spiral galaxy NGC 2936, along with its elliptical companion, NGC 2937 at the lower left. The orbits of the galaxy's stars are scrambling due to gravitational tidal interactions with the other galaxy. Gas and dust drawn from the heart of NGC 2936 become compressed during the encounter, which in turn triggers star formation.

NGC 2937, a puffball of stars with little gas or dust present, contains mostly old stars, as evidenced by their reddish color. There are no blue stars that would be evidence of recent star formation.

This Hubble image also features an unrelated, lone, bluish galaxy - inconsistently cataloged as UGC 5130 - that lies 230 million light-years away from Earth.