A Galaxy Blazes With Star Formation

SPACEART

Desktop available
Most galaxies form new stars at a fairly slow rate, but members of a rare class known as "starburst" galaxies blaze with extremely active star formation. Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are perfecting a technique to determine the history of starburst activity in galaxies by using the colors of star clusters. Measuring the clusters' colors yields information about stellar temperatures. Since young stars are blue, and older stars redder, the colors can be related to the ages, somewhat similar to counting the rings in a fallen tree trunk in order to determine the tree's age.

The galaxy NGC 3310 is forming clusters of new stars at a prodigious rate. Astronomer Gerhardt Meurer of The Johns Hopkins University leads a team of collaborators who are studying several starburst galaxies, including NGC 3310, which is showcased in this month's Hubble Heritage image.

There are several hundred star clusters in NGC 3310, visible in the Heritage image as the bright blue diffuse objects that trace the galaxy's spiral arms. Each of these star clusters represents the formation of up to about a million stars, a process that takes less than 100,000 years. In addition, hundreds of individual young, luminous stars can be seen throughout the galaxy.

Once formed, the star clusters become redder with age as the most massive and bluest stars exhaust their fuel and burn out. Measurements in this image of the wide range of cluster colors show that they have ages ranging from about one million up to more than one hundred million years. This suggests that the starburst "turned on" over 100 million years ago. It may have been triggered when a companion galaxy collided with NGC 3310.

These observations may change astronomers' view of starbursts. Starbursts were once thought to be brief episodes, resulting from catastrophic events like a galactic collision. However, the wide range of cluster ages in NGC 3310 suggests that the starbursting can continue for an extended interval, once triggered.

Located in the direction of the constellation Ursa Major, NGC 3310 has a distance of about 59 million light-years. Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 was used to make observations of NGC 3310 in March 1997 and again in September 2000. The color rendition of the combined images was created by the Hubble Heritage Team.

Image Credit: NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: G.R. Meurer and T.M. Heckman (JHU), C. Leitherer, J. Harris and D. Calzetti (STScI), and M. Sirianni (JHU)

Pasadena - Sept. 6, 2001
Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are studying the colors of star clusters to determine the age and history of starburst galaxies, a technique somewhat similar to the process of learning the age of a tree by counting its rings.

This month's Hubble Heritage image showcases the galaxy NGC 3310. It is one of several starburst galaxies, which are hotbeds of star formation, being studied by Dr. Gerhardt Meurer and a team of scientists at Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, Md. The picture was taken by Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2.

Most galaxies form new stars at a fairly slow rate, but starburst galaxies blaze with extremely active star formation. Measuring the clusters' colors yields information about stellar temperatures. Since young stars are blue and older stars redder, the colors relate to their ages.

NGC 3310 is forming clusters of new stars at a prodigious rate. The new image shows several hundred star clusters, visible as the bright blue, diffuse objects that trace the galaxy's spiral arms. Each of these star clusters represents the formation of up to about a million stars, a process that takes less than 100,000 years. In addition, hundreds of individual young, luminous stars can be seen throughout the galaxy.

The star clusters become redder with age as the most massive and bluest stars exhaust their fuel and burn out. Measurements in this image of the wide range of cluster colors show their ages range between about one million and more than one hundred million years. This suggests that the starburst "turned on" more than 100 million years ago. It may have been triggered when NGC 3310 collided with a companion galaxy.

These observations may change astronomers' view of starbursts. Starbursts were once thought to be brief episodes, resulting from catastrophic events like a galactic collision. However, the wide range of cluster ages in NGC 3310 suggests that, once triggered, the starbursting can continue for a long time.

Located in the direction of the constellation Ursa Major, NGC 3310 is about 59 million light years from Earth. The image is based on observations made by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 in March 1997 and September 2000. The Hubble Heritage Team created the color rendition of the combined images.

SPACEART

Distant Nebulae Pumping Out Brown Dwarfs By The Hundreds

Mauna Kea - Feb. 13, 2001
Subaru Telescope has successfully taken a sharp and deep infrared image of the star-forming region, S106, creating a stunning image from across. In addition, many objects with masses less than that of an ordinary star have been discovered in this region.

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.