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Cosmic owl spotted in deep space

A curious face in the cosmos has captured attention of astronomers. Dubbed the "Cosmic Owl," this celestial sight features two ring galaxies in collision, spotted using James Webb Space Telescope.

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A rare sight

Researchers analysing Webb Telescope data recently found a rare galactic duo. Together, the galaxies form an owl-like structure about 11 billion light-years away.

The formation resembles a face with two bright "eyes" and a faint "beak." The owl shape was discovered in the COSMOS field, a deep-sky region studied widely. Each ring galaxy is around 26,000 light-years wide—just a fraction of the Milky Way's size. The galactic cores act as the owl’s eyes. Both host black holes are over 10 million times heavier than the Sun. These black holes are pulling in nearby material, making their centres active and bright.

Galaxies collide

The two galaxies crashed millions of years ago. Their collision formed a dense cloud of gas in the centre—the "beak." According to Mingyu Li from Tsinghua University , this region now hosts rapid star formation, triggered by shockwaves and jets from one galaxy’s black hole.

This ongoing activity was confirmed using the ALMA observatory in Chile. Additional data from the Very Large Array in New Mexico supported the discovery. Scientists say a jet of particles from one galaxy is compressing gas further, boosting star birth.

This rare twin-ring structure is likely to last for millions of years. It’s also helping researchers better understand how galaxies evolve and grow.