A Penguin, an egg, and an asteroid collision.

This week on planetary radio.

I'm Sarah Al Ahmed of the Planetary Society, with more of the Human Adventure

across our solar system and beyond.

Last week on July 12, 2024, we passed the second anniversary of science operations for the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST.

We're marking the occasion with a dive into its newest beautiful image, a close-up of a region called the Penguin. the Institute tells us about the image before returning to tell us more about her

team's recent findings in the beta pictora system where clearing dust indicates a

recent and powerful asteroid collision. Then we go back to the early solar system with Bruce Betts, our chief scientist,

as we discuss the massive collisions that shaped our place in space in what's up.

If you love planetary radio and want to stay informed about the latest space discoveries, make

sure you hit that subscribe button on your favorite podcasting platform.

By subscribing, you'll never miss an episode filled with new and awe-inspiring ways to know the

Cosmos and are placed within it. The James Webb Space Telescope's journey began

with a flawless launch in December of 2021 and the mission has been such a massive success ever since.

It was built on the success of previous space-based observatories and it's changing the way that

we study everything from the youngest galaxies in the universe to the planets in

our own stellar backyard.

To commemorate the second anniversary of science operations for the telescope, NASA unveiled

a gorgeous new image captured by JWST, a new picture of a pair of interacting

galaxies known collectively as ARP 142.

It's a region space fans lovingly call the Penguin and the Egg.

The Penguin Galaxy, or NGC 2936, has a distorted shape that looks a lot to earthlings

...