A galaxy whose arms are dotted with star forming regions

The image of the galaxy NGC 3982 consists of three exposures over ten years from three different cameras of the Hubble Space Telescope

Galaxies are like snowflakes. No two galaxies look the same. The latest image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a spiral galaxy facing us, known as NGC 3982, buzzing with star-forming activity along its arms.

The arms are studded with star-forming regions painted pink, a color due to luminous hydrogen, new star clusters, and interwoven dust trails that provide the raw material for future generations of stars. The bright core is home to older populations of stars, and it gets denser as you get closer to the center.

NGC 3982 is located about 68 million light-years in the direction of Ursa Major. The galaxy spans 30 light years, one third the size of the Milky Way galaxy. This color image consists of exposures on three different instruments over a considerable period of the telescope's life, from March 2000 to August 2009. Planetary Camera #2, the Advanced Survey Camera, and Planetary Camera #3 which replaced #2 during the recent overhaul. The observations were made in between.

The rich color range comes from the fact that the galaxy was imaged in visible light and near infrared light. A filter was also used that isolated the hydrogen emissions emitted by the extremely bright star formation regions that dot the spiral arms.

For the news in Universe Today