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Hubble Captures a Fireworks Show in Kiso 5639
In this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image, a firestorm of star birth is lighting up one end of the diminutive galaxy Kiso 5639. The dwarf galaxy is shaped like a flattened pancake, but because it is tilted edge-on, it resembles a skyrocket, with a brilliant blazing head and a long, star-studded tail.
Kiso 5639 is a member of a class of galaxies called "tadpoles" because of their bright heads and elongated tails. This galaxy resides relatively nearby, at 82 million light-years away. Tadpoles are rare in the local universe but more common in the distant cosmos, suggesting that many galaxies pass through a phase like this as they evolve.
Hubble observations of Kiso 5639 have uncovered the stellar content and bright pink glow of hydrogen at one end of the galaxy. A burst of new stars in a region measuring 2,700 light-years across makes the hydrogen clouds glow. The mass of these young stars equals about 1 million suns. The stars are grouped into large clusters that formed less than 1 million years ago.
Stars consist mainly of hydrogen and helium, but cook up other "heavier" elements, such as oxygen and carbon. When the stars die, they release their heavy elements and enrich the surrounding gas. In Kiso 5639, the bright gas in the galaxy's head is more deficient in heavy elements than the rest of the galaxy. Astronomers, therefore, think that this new star-formation event was triggered when the galaxy accreted primordial gas from its surroundings, since intergalactic space contains more pristine, hydrogen-rich gas.
The elongated tail, seen stretching away from the galaxy's head and scattered with bright blue stars, contains at least four distinct star-forming regions. These stars appear to be older than those in the star-forming head.
Hubble also revealed giant holes peppered throughout the starburst end. These cavities give this area a Swiss-cheese appearance because numerous supernova detonations – like firework aerial bursts – have carved out holes of rarified superheated gas. Wispy filaments, comprising gas and some stars, extend away from the main body of the cosmic tadpole.
The observations were taken in February 2015 and July 2015 with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3.
About the Object
- R.A. PositionR.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.11h 41m 7.5s
- Dec. PositionDec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.32° 25' 37.33"
- ConstellationConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.Ursa Major
- DistanceDistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.80 million light-years (24.5 million parsecs)
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.Data were provided by the HST proposal 13723: B. Elmegreen (PI; IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center), D. Elmegreen (Vassar College), J. Sánchez Almeida and C. Muñoz-Tuñón (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias), J. Mendez-Abreu (University of St. Andrews), and J. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin-Madison). The science team includes: D. Elmegreen (Vassar College), B. Elmegreen (IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center), J. Sánchez Almeida, C. Muñoz-Tuñón, and M. Filho (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias), J. Mendez-Abreu (University of St. Andrews), J. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin-Madison), M. Rafelski (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), and D. Ceverino (Center for Astronomy at Heidelberg University). - InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.HST>WFC3/UVIS
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.February 16-17, 2015, and July 2, 2015
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.F225W (U), F336W (U), F438W (B), F547M (Strömgren y), F606W (V), F675N (H-alpha), and F814W (I)
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.Kiso 5639, KUG 1138+327
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Galaxy
- Release DateJune 28, 2016
- Science ReleaseHubble Reveals Stellar Fireworks in ‘Skyrocket’ Galaxy
- CreditsNASA, ESA, and D. Elmegreen (Vassar College), B. Elmegreen (IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center), J. Sánchez Almeida, C. Munoz-Tunon, and M. Filho (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias), J. Mendez-Abreu (University of St. Andrews), J. Gallagher (University of Wisconsin-Madison), M. Rafelski (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), and D. Ceverino (Center for Astronomy at Heidelberg University)
This image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3/UVIS instrument. Several filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Purple: F225W (U) Purple: F336W (U) Blue: F438W (B) Green: F547M (Strömgren y) Luminosity: F606W (V) Orange: F675N (H-alpha) Red: F814W (I)
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
