Hubble's picture of the week shows a group of spiral galaxies that look like neighbours but are not. The large spiral NGC 1356 is about 550 million light-years away, while the smaller LEDA 95415 is roughly 840 million light-years away, so they are around 300 million light-years apart despite appearing to touch. Meanwhile IC 1947, which looks remote on the left, is only about 500 million light-years away and is much closer to NGC 1356 in three-dimensional space. A flat image shows only angular separation across the sky, not distance from Earth. Astronomers need distance measurements to place galaxies in three dimensions.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.