NGC 4449: Close-up of a Small Galaxy | APODImage Credit…

NGC 4449: Close-up of a Small Galaxy | APODImage Credit…

NGC 4449: Close-up of a Small Galaxy | APOD
Image Credit &

Copyright:Data –

Hubble Legacy Archive,

ESA, NASA;


Processing –

Domingo

Pestana Galvan,

Raul

Villaverde Fraile

Grand spiral galaxies

often seem to get all the glory. Their young, blue star clusters and pink star forming regions

along sweeping

spiral

arms are guaranteed to attract attention. But small irregular galaxies form stars too, like

NGC

4449, about 12 million light-years distant. Less than 20,000 light-years across, the small island universe is

similar in size, and often

compared

to our Milky Way’s satellite

galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). This remarkable Hubble Space Telescope close-up of the

well-studied

galaxy was reprocessed to highlight the telltale reddish

glow of hydrogen gas. The glow traces NGC 4449’s widespread star forming regions, some

even larger than those in the LMC,

with enormous interstellar arcs and bubbles blown by short-lived,

massive stars. NGC 4449 is a member of a

group

of galaxies found in the constellation Canes Venatici. It also holds the distinction of being the first dwarf galaxy with an

identified tidal star stream.