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Galaxy NGC 4214: A star formation laboratory (big space pic)

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n2doc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 01:30 PM
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Galaxy NGC 4214: A star formation laboratory (big space pic)

Hubble’s newest camera has taken an image of galaxy NGC 4214. This galaxy glows brightly with young stars and gas clouds, and is an ideal laboratory to research star formation and evolution.

Size isn’t everything... in astronomy, at least. Dwarf galaxy NGC 4214 may be small, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in content. It is packed with everything an astronomer could ask for, from hot, young star-forming regions to old clusters with red supergiants.

The intricate patterns of glowing ionised hydrogen gas, cavities blown clear of gas by stellar wind, and bright stellar clusters of NGC 4214 can be seen in this optical and near-infrared image, taken using the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) instrument on the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

A huge heart-shaped cavity — possibly the galaxy’s most eye-catching feature — can be seen at the centre of the image. Inside this hole lies a large cluster of massive, young stars ranging in temperature from 10 000 to 50 000 degrees Celsius. Their strong stellar winds are responsible for the creation of this hollow area. The resulting lack of gas prevents any further star formation from occurring in this region.

more
http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1109/
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The Wielding Truth Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 01:35 PM
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1. Do you know what the green orbs are?
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n2doc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 01:47 PM
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2. I believe they are gas clouds fluorescing from radiation
That is my guess.
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The Wielding Truth Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri May-13-11 02:56 PM
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3. Thanks, the photo is intriguing.
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