|
Collection:
|
|
NASA Hubble Space Telescope Collection
Collection
NASA Hubble Space Telescope Collection
Collection
|
|
Title:
|
|
Bright Star Birth Region in a Dim Galaxy
Title
Bright Star Birth Region in a Dim Galaxy
Title
|
|
Object Name:
|
|
NGC 2363
Object_Name
NGC 2363
Object Name
|
|
Object Name:
|
|
NGC 2366
Object_Name
NGC 2366
Object Name
|
|
Acknowledgement:
|
*Left Credit:* Laurent Drissen, Jean-Rene Roy and Carmelle Robert (Department de Physique and Observatoire du mont Megantic, Universite Laval) and NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/]
Acknowledgement
*Left Credit:* Laurent Drissen, Jean-Rene Roy and Carmelle Robert (Department de Physique and Observatoire du mont Megantic, Universite Laval) and NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/] Acknowledgement
|
|
Acknowledgement:
|
Acknowledgement
Acknowledgement
|
|
Fast Facts:
|
|
|
|
note:
|
|
*Image Type:*: Astronomical
note
*Image Type:*: Astronomical
note
|
|
note:
|
|
*Release Date*:October 11, 1996 12:00 AM (EDT)
note
*Release Date*:October 11, 1996 12:00 AM (EDT)
note
|
|
note:
|
|
*News Release Number:*: STScI-1996-31a
note
*News Release Number:*: STScI-1996-31a
note
|
|
note:
|
|
*Title*:Bright Star Birth Region in a Dim Galaxy
note
*Title*:Bright Star Birth Region in a Dim Galaxy
note
|
|
note:
|
|
*Description*:
[right] - Clusters of stars and a fishhook-shaped cloud of luminescent gases glow brilliantly in NGC 2363, a giant star-forming region in the Magellanic galaxy NGC 2366. Even though the nebula is 10 million light-years away, the Hubble Space Telescope resolves details comparable to such nebulae in our own galaxy. This region is as bright as the gigantic 30 Doradus nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our Milky Way.
The brightest star visible on this image (at the tip of the fishhook) is a rare class called an erupting Luminous Blue Variable (LBV). This monstrous star (30 to 60 times as massive as the Sun) is in a very unstable, eruptive phase of its life. The Hubble images are the only ones in which the star can be clearly isolated from the rest of the cluster. Only four giant LBV eruptions have been recorded in history, the most famous being those of Eta Carinae (1837-1860) and P Cygni (1600), within our own galaxy.
The LBV was discovered in Hubble pictures taken in January 1996, by comparing these images with ground-based photos. An archival search of previous ground-based images showed the star grew 40 times brighter (21.5 to 17.8 magnitude) within three years — now making it the brightest star in its galaxy.
The Hubble image, taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera-2 (WFPC2), also shows two dense clusters of massive stars, which are at two different phases of their evolution. Stellar "winds" and supernova blasts have blown the gas away from the oldest cluster (4-5 million years old) seen at the top of the image. This has created a cavity in the nebula. In contrast, the brightest cluster (bottom center) is probably less than 2 million years old and still embedded in remnants of gas and dust out of which it condensed.
Observations of galaxies like NGC 2366 will also help astronomers better understand why faint irregular galaxies can have such "firestorms" of starbirth activity, and what processes set the limit to the size of a star-forming region in a given galactic environment. One possibility is that gas streaming around the galaxy forms a bar-like pattern where gas piles up at the ends of the bars, causing a giant cloud to form.
[left] - A black and white (visual) image of the irregular galaxy NGC 2366 obtained at the Canada-France-Hawaii (CFHT) 3.6-meter telescope on Mauna Kea on February 7, 1996. The white square shows the location of Hubble's WFPC2 image.
note
*Description*:
[right] - Clusters of stars and a fishhook-shaped cloud of luminescent gases glow brilliantly in NGC 2363, a giant star-forming region in the Magellanic galaxy NGC 2366. Even though the nebula is 10 million light-years away, the Hubble Space Telescope resolves details comparable to such nebulae in our own galaxy. This region is as bright as the gigantic 30 Doradus nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our Milky Way.
The brightest star visible on this image (at the tip of the fishhook) is a rare class called an erupting Luminous Blue Variable (LBV). This monstrous star (30 to 60 times as massive as the Sun) is in a very unstable, eruptive phase of its life. The Hubble images are the only ones in which the star can be clearly isolated from the rest of the cluster. Only four giant LBV eruptions have been recorded in history, the most famous being those of Eta Carinae (1837-1860) and P Cygni (1600), within our own galaxy.
The LBV was discovered in Hubble pictures taken in January 1996, by comparing these images with ground-based photos. An archival search of previous ground-based images showed the star grew 40 times brighter (21.5 to 17.8 magnitude) within three years — now making it the brightest star in its galaxy.
The Hubble image, taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera-2 (WFPC2), also shows two dense clusters of massive stars, which are at two different phases of their evolution. Stellar "winds" and supernova blasts have blown the gas away from the oldest cluster (4-5 million years old) seen at the top of the image. This has created a cavity in the nebula. In contrast, the brightest cluster (bottom center) is probably less than 2 million years old and still embedded in remnants of gas and dust out of which it condensed.
Observations of galaxies like NGC 2366 will also help astronomers better understand why faint irregular galaxies can have such "firestorms" of starbirth activity, and what processes set the limit to the size of a star-forming region in a given galactic environment. One possibility is that gas streaming around the galaxy forms a bar-like pattern where gas piles up at the ends of the bars, causing a giant cloud to form.
[left] - A black and white (visual) image of the irregular galaxy NGC 2366 obtained at the Canada-France-Hawaii (CFHT) 3.6-meter telescope on Mauna Kea on February 7, 1996. The white square shows the location of Hubble's WFPC2 image.
note
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Jupiter
facet_what
Jupiter
facet_what
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Sun
facet_what
Sun
facet_what
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Io
|
|
facet_what:
|
|
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_what
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_what
|
|
facet_where:
|
|
Jupiter
facet_where
Jupiter
facet_where
|
|
facet_where:
|
|
Large Magellanic Cloud
facet_where
Large Magellanic Cloud
facet_where
|
|
facet_where:
|
|
Canada
facet_where
Canada
facet_where
|
|
facet_where:
|
|
France
facet_where
France
facet_where
|
|
facet_where:
|
|
Hawaii
facet_where
Hawaii
facet_where
|
|
facet_when:
|
|
January 1996
facet_when
January 1996
facet_when
|
|
facet_when:
|
|
October 11, 1996
facet_when
October 11, 1996
facet_when
|
|
facet_when:
|
|
February 7, 1996
facet_when
February 7, 1996
facet_when
|
|
facet_when_year:
|
|
1996
facet_when_year
1996
facet_when_year
|
|
UID:
|
|
SPD-HUBBLE-STScI-199 6-31a
UID
SPD-HUBBLE-STScI-199 6-31a
UID
|
|
original url:
|
original_url
original url
|
|
Release Date:
|
|
October 11, 1996 12:00 AM (EDT)
Release_Date
October 11, 1996 12:00 AM (EDT)
Release Date
|
