A Close Relationship

Some galaxies are closer friends than others. While many live their own separate, solitary lives, others stray a little too close to a near neighbour and take their relationship to the next level.

The two galaxies featured in this Picture of the Week , named NGC 6285 (left) and NGC 6286 (right), have done just that! Together, the duo is named Arp 293 and they are interacting , their mutual gravitational attraction pulling wisps of gas and streams of dust from them, distorting their shapes, and gently smudging and blurring their appearances on the sky — to Earth-based observers, at least.

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has viewed a number of interacting pairs . These can have distinctive, beautiful, and downright odd shapes, ranging from sheet music to a spaceship entering a sci-fi-esque wormhole , a bouquet of celestial blooms , and a penguin fiercely guarding its precious egg .

Arp 293 is located in the constellation of Draco (The Dragon) , and lies over 250 million light-years from Earth.