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Credit & Copyright: Stephen Leshin
Explanation:
Grand spiral galaxies
often seem to get all the glory, flaunting
their young, bright, blue star clusters in beautiful,
symmetric spiral arms.
But small, irregular galaxies form stars too.
In fact
dwarf galaxy IC 2574 shows
clear evidence
of intense star forming activity in its telltale pinkish
regions of glowing hydrogen gas.
Just as in spiral galaxies, the
turbulent star-forming regions
in IC 2574 are churned by
stellar winds and
supernova explosions spewing material into the
galaxy's interstellar medium and
triggering further star formation.
A mere 12 million light-years distant, IC 2574 is part of the
M81 group of galaxies, seen toward the northern
constellation Ursa Major.
Also known as Coddington's Nebula, the lovely
island universe
is about 50,000 light-years across, discovered by
American astronomer Edwin Coddington in 1898.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: dwarf galaxy - star formation
Publications with words: dwarf galaxy - star formation
See also:
- Regulus and the Dwarf Galaxy
- NGC 1893 and the Tadpoles of IC 410
- Star Factory Messier 17
- APOD: 2023 August 28 Á Star Formation in the Pacman Nebula
- APOD: 2023 July 10 Á Stars, Dust and Nebula in NGC 6559
- NGC 1333: Stellar Nursery in Perseus
- APOD: 2023 March 21 Á Dark Nebulae and Star Formation in Taurus