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Credit & Copyright: Franz Hofmann,
Gemsbock Observatory
Explanation:
Grand spiral galaxies often seem
to get all the attention, flaunting young, bright, blue
star clusters
and
pinkish star forming
regions along graceful, symmetric spiral arms.
But
small galaxies
form stars too,
like irregular dwarf galaxy
Sextans A.
Its young star clusters and star forming regions are
gathered into a gumdrop-shaped region a mere 5,000 light-years across.
Seen toward the navigational constellation Sextans, the small galaxy
lies some
4.5 million light-years distant.
That puts it near the outskirts of the
local group
of galaxies, that includes the large, massive spirals
Andromeda and our own
Milky Way.
Brighter Milky Way foreground stars appear spiky and yellowish in
this colorful telescopic view of Sextans A.
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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: irregular galaxy - dwarf galaxy - star formation
Publications with words: irregular galaxy - dwarf galaxy - star formation
See also:
- APOD: 2025 April 28 B Gum 37 and the Southern Tadpoles
- APOD: 2025 March 26 B Star Formation in the Pacman Nebula
- IC 2574: Coddington's Nebula
- APOD: 2024 October 22 B M16: Pillars of Star Creation
- Star Factory Messier 17
- APOD: 2024 August 19 B IC 5146: The Cocoon Nebula
- APOD: 2024 July 16 B Cometary Globules