These two galaxies are named NGC 4490 and NGC 4485, and they’re located about 24 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs). They are the closest known interacting dwarf-dwarf galaxy system where astronomers have observed the interactions between them, as well as been able to resolve the stars within.
ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Adamo (Stockholm University), G. Bortolini, and the FEAST JWST team
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured two nearby dwarf galaxies interacting with each other in this image released on Dec. 2, 2025. Dwarf galaxies can give us insights into galaxies in the early universe, which were thought to have less mass than galaxies like the Milky Way, and also contain a lot of gas, relatively few stars, and typically have small amounts of elements heavier than helium. Observing dwarf galaxies merge can tell us how galaxies billions of years ago might have grown and evolved.
Read more about this cosmic pair.
Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Adamo (Stockholm University), G. Bortolini, and the FEAST JWST team
这两座星系名为NGC4490和NGC4485，位于猎犬座，距离地球约2400万光年。它们是目前已知距离我们最近的矮星系—矮星系相互作用系统，天文学家不仅观测到了它们之间的相互作用，还能够分辨出其中的恒星。
ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Adamo (Stockholm University), G. Bortolini, and the FEAST JWST team
NASA詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜在2025年12月2日发布的这张图像中捕捉到了这对正在相互作用的近邻矮星系。矮星系为研究早期宇宙中的星系提供了重要线索，这类早期星系被认为质量小于银河系，富含气体、恒星数量较少，且重于氦的元素含量通常较低。观测矮星系的并合过程，有助于揭示数十亿年前星系是如何生长和演化的。
图片来源: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Adamo (Stockholm University), G. Bortolini, and the FEAST JWST team
