The starburst galaxy is teeming with new child stars fueled by its collision with not less than two different galaxies.
NGC 4449 as seen by the Gemini North Telescope. Crimson areas hint the place there’s ionized hydrogen within the galaxy – an indication of forming stars. Credit score: Worldwide Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
On June 25, 1999, the 8.1-meter Gemini North Telescope atop Maunakea, Hawaii, revealed its first gentle pictures. Since then, the telescope has peered into the universe with its twin, the Gemini South Telescope in Chile. Consisting of each telescopes collectively, the Worldwide Gemini Observatory has made quite a few groundbreaking pictures of the universe, together with taking the primary picture of multiple planets circling another star.
Gemini North’s newest picture captured a surprising view of the irregular dwarf galaxy NGC 4449 (Caldwell 21). This galaxy, discovered 12.5 million light-years away within the constellation Canes Venatici, is busting with younger stars. Though it has been doing so for billions of years, a latest improve on this exercise is because of its interactions with not less than two of its many neighboring galaxies.
NOIRLab launched the picture in celebration of Gemini North’s twenty fifth anniversary.
Shining stars
Areas the place stars are forming shine brightly within the picture. Areas which can be pink present the place there are huge portions of ionized hydrogen, which is a tracer for star formation.
NGC 4449’s intense fee of star formation marks it as a starburst galaxy. Starbursts often happen in the midst of galaxies, however NGC 4449 is an oddball. Its starburst exercise happens all through the galaxy, as seen by the widespread child stars.
Interactions with different galaxies shut by have fueled NGC 4449’s stellar explosion. One piece of proof of NGC 4449’s previous voracious urge for food is the globular star cluster within the galaxy’s outer halo. Scientists suspect the star cluster is the leftover nucleus of a satellite galaxy that’s being absorbed.
At its present fee of star formation, NGC 4449’s starburst is estimated to final about one other billion years.
