Starburst Galaxy

space-pictures (57)in #science • 7 years ago

Some galaxies have a massive rate of star formation, and one is close by

This is a picture of NGC 1569, by the hubble space telescope. The galaxy can be found past the constellation of Camelopardalis (The Giraffe), about 11 million light years away. NGC 1596 is a starburst galaxy that is producing stars a hundred times faster than the Milky Way. The extreme amount of star formation is believed to be caused by gravitational interactions between NGC 1596 and its galactic group.[1]

Starburst galaxies produce stars at a rate of about 10^3 times the normal galaxy, and run out of gas after around 10^8 years. Star formation is often located mostly around the nucleus of a galaxy. These types of galaxies were more common in the past, most likely because gravitational interaction between galaxies was more common. [2]