NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has observed two dwarf galaxies that are dancing due to gravity.

The two galaxies, NGC 4490 and NGC 4485, are located 24 million light-years from Earth in a cluster called Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs).

Apart from the Milky Way’s own galaxy counterparts, this is the closest known dwarf-dwarf system to the Milky Way, and for the first time astronomers have directly observed both a gas bridge and separate populations of stars.

Together, NGC 4490 and NGC 4485 form the system Arp 269, which is included in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. Because they are so close (and because of the Webb Telescope’s powerful capabilities), these galaxies offer experts a close-up look at the scenes that occurred billions of years ago during the collision of ordinary galaxies.