NGC 4496 was discovered on February 23, 1784, by the German-born British astronomer William Herschel.
Otherwise known as NGC 4505, it consists of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 4496A and the spiral galaxy NGC 4496B.
Both galaxies lie in the constellation of Virgo, but despite appearing side-by-side in the new Hubble image they are at vastly different distances from both Earth and one another.
NGC 4496A is 47 million light-years from Earth while NGC 4496B is 212 million light-years away.
