A peculiar group of galaxies in the field of the BL Lacertae object H 0414+00

We report on the serendipitous finding of a peculiar configuration of galaxies in a CCD image of the field around the BL Lacertae object H 0414+00. The galaxies appear to form four pairs, whose members have similar magnitude and colors, and similar (∼5″) angular separation. They may represent a small group of binary galaxies. A more exotic possibility that the pairs are twin galaxies produced by image splitting by a cosmic string is also discussed. The field is proposed for a detailed spectroscopic and imaging study